Amid fears of an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, European countries are evacuating their citizens from Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries and relocating embassy staff through Cyprus.
The German Armed Forces are preparing a small fleet of A400M transport aircraft at Wunstorf Air Base in Lower Saxony. They will be able to transport people from Beirut to Cyprus as needed.
The German Foreign Ministry announced that there are currently 2,100 Germans in Lebanon who will need to be evacuated in the event of an emergency. Germany has called on its citizens several times to leave Lebanon.
Lufthansa has canceled all flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut and Tehran until August 12. There will be no flights to Amman (Jordan) and Erbil (Iraq) until August 7. Airlines belonging to the Lufthansa group, such as Swiss and Austrian Airlines, will avoid Iranian and Iraqi airspace until August 7.
On August 1, the Swedish Embassy in Israel received instructions from its Foreign Ministry to transfer all employees to a safe location. Cyprus was chosen for temporary deployment. The embassy will be located on the island until the end of August.
Although Germany is actively preparing for evacuation, the Cypriot authorities have not yet activated the Estia plan. It is put into effect every time citizens of the European Union and third countries need to evacuate en masse across the island. “We have not yet received any requests from other countries to activate the plan. However, we are ready to do this at any time,” said deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou.
The director of development and communications at Cyprus airport operator Hermes, Maria Kouroupi, said Larnaca and Paphos airports were “prepared to cope with any potential influx of passengers caused by the current situation in the Middle East.”
In statements made on August 6, she said that flight schedules to and from Israel or Lebanon were being adjusted daily. So far, two or three special flights have been carried out to evacuate a small number of people from Lebanon, mainly diplomatic mission employees.
Several flights to and from Israel or Lebanon were canceled or rescheduled, affecting about 10,000 passengers. However, 14 flights continue to operate daily without changes. “Israeli Airlines and one European airline are sticking to their schedule,” Kouroupi said. She added that it is still difficult to predict future developments. “There is a tense calm. Our goal in these circumstances is to ensure that all other flights continue to operate smoothly so that Cyprus remains a safe destination. We hope for a speedy return to normal life in our region,” concluded Maria Curupi.
The text was prepared based on materials from Cyprus Mail.
Previously
Due to the tense situation in Lebanon, the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus activated the Nafkratis plan. The island is ready to become a transshipment base for citizens of the European Union and third countries. More information is in this news.
Read 3,930
