FM: Families with children should have priority on repatriation flights
Families with children should be given priority when registering for Estonia's extraordinary charter flights from the Middle East to Tallinn, Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) said on Thursday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organizing flights to bring more than 1,000 stranded Estonians home from the Middle East after airspace closures following the U.S. and Israel's airstrikes on Iran and Tehran's retaliation.
The first flight was scheduled to depart on March 5 from Oman with approximately 180 passengers.
"For the next flight, if possible, we will try ourselves, since we have the information, to prioritize ticket sales for those families who have children. What happened with the first flight was that those who were alone or two adults together got in immediately, [with] quick fingers. If you have to register all the children, then you simply cannot reach the queue as quickly," the minister said at the government's weekly press conference on Thursday.
"Our preference is to bring those families out at least on the next flight or to make some kind of selection so that the children can get home. This is technically very complicated, but still. And all this information is publicly available, and we are also directing it to all those people who have registered."
Tsahkna also asked everyone to register on the Reisi Targalt website.
He said the first flight from Oman should depart at 2 p.m. Estonian time and 28 children are among the passengers.
However, he said it will not be an easy journey because there is a high probability the flight will be delayed.
"It is already a major achievement if the plane can get out of there at all — that is our first priority. If it gets out, it should arrive in Estonia during the night. This trip is very difficult," Tsahkna said.
It is hoped another flight will take place on Friday.
"The current plan is that one flight will depart every day. First we are trying to get today's flight in the air and are dealing with tomorrow's flight from Muscat, because the airspace in Dubai remains closed. A few aircraft from the United Arab Emirates have taken off alone from there, but we will announce the next flight as soon as it is confirmed," Tsahkna said.
The initial plan is to make the next flight tomorrow at 4:55 p.m., but this has not yet been confirmed, he added.
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Editor: Aleksander Krjukov, Helen Wright
