The group of Portuguese who were held up in Marrakesh, Morocco, following several flight cancellations due to the new coronavirus, should return this afternoon to Portugal on board TAP planes sent exclusively for the purpose.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs (MNE), Augusto Santos Silva, told Lusa today that two TAP flights are being prepared to remove the Portuguese who are stranded in Morocco.
“This aid is being organized and we are currently preparing two TAP flights chartered by the MNE that will take place today, desirably until 8 pm, since that was the deadline determined by the Moroccan authorities,” he said.
As he explained to Lusa, the two flights will be carried out from Marrakesh to Lisbon, because “the vast majority of the Portuguese who were in these two days asking for support to the Portuguese embassy in Morocco signaled to be in Marrakesh”.
The number of Portuguese who have already asked for support “exceeds the capacity of a single plane, which is why we are organizing two flights”, he stressed.
“I hope they come true, since everything on our part is planned to be done and that is why our embassy has been contacting the Portuguese who asked for support asking them to go to the TAP counter at Marrakesh Airport now to proceed with the due registration so that we can have the passengers’ lists and everything is duly regularized and in order for the flights to take place ”, he added.
Confirmation was also given by António Borges da Costa, one of the Portuguese who was being held back with his family and despairing of the Government’s help, to the newspaper Público this Sunday. The planes are scheduled to arrive between 4pm and 5pm today. According to the news that is being advanced by the newspaper Público, this Sunday, two TAP planes will be sent between 4pm and 5pm to repatriate them.
The tourist also said that about 80 Portuguese are in the same situation and that when he contacted the Consular Emergency Office (GEC), this morning, around 10 am in Lisbon, he was told that there was still no solution.
Morocco decided to suspend all flights to Portugal from 8 pm on Sunday, as a measure to reinforce the fight against covid-19. Morocco has already registered eight cases of infection and one fatal victim.
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