An EgyptAir flight from Washington bringing back home 340 Egyptian nationals landed in Marsa Alam on Monday, state run MENA news agency reported. According to the agency, Marsa Alam airport's quarantine and preventive health team conducted medical checkups and swabs to ensure that the passengers are coronavirus free. The passengers were then transferred to designated hotels in the Red Sea resort city under full medical supervision, where they will stay in a 14-day quarantine. The government requires returnees to sign a written acknowledgement that they agree to be quarantined before boarding the flights. Egypt began repatriating its nationals in March after many countries, including Egypt itself, started to shut their airspace to commercial flights. The country is keeping its airspace open to inbound charter flights and special flights to transport outbound passengers, and to cargo and domestic flights. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said last week that authorities are hoping to repatriate all nationals stuck abroad before the Islamic holiday of Eid Al-Fitr, which is set to begin on 23 May. Egypt has repatriated around 12,000 stranded Egyptians from different countries since late April, an aviation ministry source told Al-Ahram last week. Seventy flights arranged by EgyptAir and Air Cairo airlines brought Egyptian nationals back to their country amid the coronavirus pandemic, the source said, adding that flights will not stop “until the last Egyptian stranded abroad is repatriated.”
