This week’s repatriation flights are set to benefit 4,644 Moroccans stranded abroad and increase the total number of repatriated citizens to over 7,800.
Rabat – After a successful week of flights servicing Moroccans stranded abroad in France, the Netherlands, Tunisia, the UAE, Belgium, Senegal, and Italy, Morocco is continuing the momentum with additional repatriation flights from Rome, London, Abidjan, and Frankfurt.
Some 3,180 citizens returned to Morocco between Monday, June 22, and Thursday, June 25.
On Thursday alone, the country scheduled five flights to return 300 Moroccans from Paris on two trips, 150 from Lyon, 150 from Italy, and 150 from Belgium.
Seven flights are scheduled for Friday, June 26, reports Moroccan outlet Le360. Five will land in Marrakech while the other two will touch down in Agadir.
The Marrakech Menara Airport is set to receive on Friday two flights from Paris; one from London; one from Amsterdam; and one from Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire with a stopover in Dakar, Senegal.
The same day, passengers will arrive in Agadir from Lyon and Rome on one flight each.
On Saturday, June 27, two flights will land in Marrakech from Paris and one will arrive from Frankfurt.
Upon arriving in Morocco, the repatriates will undergo COVID-19 screening tests and enter a nine-day quarantine period.
The new schedule comes after Morocco’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita announced on June 22 that the country is set to repatriate 5,000 to 6,000 Moroccans stranded abroad every week. Operations will reach their maximal frequency this week, he clarified.
During the third phase of Morocco’s repatriation strategy, which began on June 21, Royal Air Maroc will operate approximately 30 weekly flights to repatriate Moroccans stranded in various countries around the world.
Previous repatriation flights operated at 75% of their passenger capacity, but the planes will now fill all available seats.
Bourita said 30 repatriation flights will return citizens from 17 countries between June 21 and 27. The countries include France, Turkey, Serbia, Hungary, Tunisia, Mauritania, the UAE, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, Senegal, Belgium, Italy, Austria, and the UK.
As of June 25, Moroccans have returned from France, Turkey, Tunisia, Mauritania, the UAE, the Netherlands, Senegal, Belgium, and Italy. The schedule issued by Le360, however, does not include the flights from Serbia, Hungary, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, or Austria that Bourita referenced in his announcement.
This week’s repatriation flights are set to benefit 4,644 Moroccans stranded abroad and increase the total number of repatriated citizens to over 7,800.
Morocco began repatriation operations in May, starting with the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Mellia. The country then moved to bring home citizens from Algeria, mainland Spain, the Canary Islands, and Turkey.
Next week, between June 28 and July 4, flights are scheduled to repatriate Moroccans stranded in Germany, Egypt, Turkey, and the Gulf, among others.
The Moroccan government is yet to announce an official strategy to bring home citizens stranded in East Asia or Latin America.
Read also: Royal Air Maroc Satisfied With ‘Historic’ Relaunch of Domestic Flights
