Egypt operates 22 flights from Kuwait to return workers – ministry

22 flights carrying 4,237 Egyptian workers will be operated on Wednesday from Kuwait in the Gulf country’s biggest departure since the coronavirus outbreak, Egypt’s manpower ministry announced.

In an official statement, manpower ministry spokesman Haitham Saad El-Din said the 22 flights will be operated to several Egyptian airports, Ahram Online reported.

The flights, operated by EgyptAir, Air Cairo, Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways, will run until Wednesday night.

This is the biggest departure seen by Kuwait since the outbreak, where 32 flights will be operated from Kuwait to Egypt, India, Jordan and Qatar.

In May, Egypt began repatriating nationals stranded in Kuwait after Kuwaiti authorities broke up riots by Egyptian workers with invalid residencies seeking to return home.

Egypt has closed its airports to international flights since mid-March as part of the preventive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. It is mainly keeping its airspace open to cargo and domestic flights during the flight suspension.

Egypt is operating flights to repatriate its citizens abroad and has returned home at least 24,000 Egyptians since March.

Egypt decided last week to scrap the system of placing returnees in hotels repurposed for quarantine in the Red Sea resort town of Marsa Alam, replacing it with 14-day home quarantine.