On the night of Saturday, March 7, the first repatriation flights from Dubai arrived at Rīga Airport. These flights were organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with the airline airBaltic due to the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East.
The first two flights from the United Arab Emirates brought back around 280 people to Latvia. The third repatriation flight is also expected to take place on Saturday, departing from Dubai in the evening. The flights were met at the airport by a crowd of relatives who had come to greet their loved ones.
Representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that, in cooperation with other European Union countries, they are looking for opportunities to repatriate citizens who are in other countries in the Middle East, such as Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The ministry reports that it is in contact with those nationals who have left their contact details and expressed a desire to leave as soon as it is possible to do so on flights organised by other member states.
The next flight from Dubai to Rīga will take place on March 7. According to the flight schedule, it will depart in the evening – after 5 p.m. Latvian time – and arrive in Rīga on Sunday night at 3:40 a.m. There will be 147 seats available on this flight, but it is not yet known how many people will be flying on it.
In total, the government plans to provide five repatriation flights from Dubai.
Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Māris Selga said that the dates of the last two flights will be announced separately.
“My colleagues at the embassy in the Emirates and the Consular Department here in Riga and I are doing everything we can to help. It is difficult for me to comment on what is happening at the airport there, given that the security situation is changing every minute, so I hope that the main thing is that the flights are taking place and people are arriving.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that 812 people had registered for short-term trips to the United Arab Emirates in the Consular Register.
Around 280 of them have already returned to Latvia on the first flights. Priority on repatriation flights is given to vulnerable groups, such as families with small children.
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