Several Czechs will travel today on a Slovak repatriation flight to Bratislava from Amman in Jordan, Czech Foreign Ministry spokesman Daniel Drake told CTK yesterday. The ministry later announced on social media that a repatriation flight for Czechs in Israel would leave on Monday, adding that those interested must report to the embassy in Tel Aviv.
The Foreign Ministry also issued new warnings against travel to Israel, which launched a military attack on Iran on Thursday night and is now under retaliatory strikes. The ministry also issued a warning against travel to neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan. The Foreign Ministry had already urged Czech citizens to leave Iran on Friday.
“We are constantly updating the list of those interested in repatriation and are ready to send our own flight. At the same time, there is intensive coordination between ambassadors in Tel Aviv and more EU countries are preparing repatriation flights,” Drake said.
There are 144 Czechs registered in the Drozd travel system in Israel, 50 in Jordan, 55 in Lebanon and two in Iran. In Israel, Czech diplomats have registered hundreds of people with Czech citizenship living in Israel on a long-term basis.
“The flight is intended for people affected by traffic restrictions due to the armed conflict,” Drake said yesterday morning, explaining that the airspace over Jordan was unstable and commercial connections were being disrupted.
The Foreign Ministry updated its travel advice for Israel yesterday, warning against travel to the country. “Given that Israeli airspace is closed at this time, we recommend that you take due care in communicating with your airline and monitor flight announcements. It is possible to leave the country by land via Jordan and Egypt,” the ministry said.
For Jordan, the ministry issued advice to travel to the country only if necessary. “That is, except in those border areas where the ‘caution against all travel’ insists,” Drake noted. Furthermore, the ministry warned against all travel to Lebanon in view of the security situation.
Airlines cancelled all flights between Prague and Tel Aviv yesterday, affecting six departures from Prague and seven arrivals. All four pairs of Monday flights are also cancelled. Airlines have been cancelling flights since Friday, when Israeli airspace was closed to civil air traffic.
Israeli authorities have urged their citizens in some foreign countries, such as Greece and Cyprus, to wait for official instructions and not go to airports for the time being.
The new conflict between Israel and Iran began on Friday night with Israeli strikes on Iranian military installations and nuclear facilities, which Israel justified as trying to stop Iran from producing a nuclear weapon. Since Friday night, Iran has been retaliating against Israel with missiles and drones.
