EgyptAir and Air Cairo will operate 11 flights to repatriate Egyptian nationals from several countries in Africa, the Middle East and North America on Friday. Cairo International Airport will receive seven repatriation flights, and Marsa Alam International Airport will receive four, Al-Ahram reported. EgyptAir flights from Saudi Arabia's Jeddah and Riyadh, Chad's N'djamena, UAE's Dubai and from Kuwait will arrive at Cairo airport, in addition to two other Air Cairo flights from Kuwait. Marsa Alam will receive an EgyptAir flight from Washington and two others from Istanbul, in addition to an Air Cairo flight coming from Uganda's Entebbe, Rwanda's Kigali and Sudan's Khartoum. All the returnees will undergo medical examinations upon arrival and will then be placed in quarantine facilities in Cairo or Marsa Alam for 14 days, Al-Ahram quoted sources in the aviation ministry as saying. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Thursday that authorities are trying to repatriate nationals stranded abroad before Eid Al-Fitr, the Islamic holiday that concludes the holy month of Ramadan. The government will cover the cost of the repatriated nationals quarantined at repurposed university dorms. However, those who wish to spend their quarantine period at designated hotels in the Mediterranean city of Marsa Alam will have to pay for their stay. Egypt began repatriating its citizens in March, when, like many countries, it shut down commercial flights due to the coronavirus. The country is keeping its airspace open to inbound charter and special flights to transport outbound passengers, and to cargo and domestic flights.
