A Portuguese military aircraft carrying 39 passengers landed on Friday at around 5am at Figo Maduro Airport in Lisbon, as part of an ongoing operation to repatriate citizens from the Middle East.
The Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, Emídio Sousa, was present at the airport to receive the repatriated citizens, who travelled from Oman, according to Now.
The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence announced on Thursday that a repatriation operation involving 186 people, almost all Portuguese, is underway, with arrivals scheduled for Friday.
According to a joint statement from the two ministries, the operation involves a C-130 aircraft from the Portuguese Air Force and an A330 aircraft chartered from TAP Air Portugal.
The chartered flight is carrying 147 passengers, 139 of whom are Portuguese and eight foreigners from Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States and Peru.
Speaking early on Friday morning at Figo Maduro military airport, Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities Emídio Sousa said the government is exploring several options to help Portuguese nationals still in the region.
“We are considering every possible way to help. It could be through another flight that we may organise, or through a flight arranged by another European country,” he told reporters.
Officials are expected to spend the morning contacting Portuguese citizens who may still wish to return.
“Today, throughout the morning, our services will contact people to see who wants to come back, so that we can assess whether or not to organise that flight. And the Air Force is already planning the flight,” Sousa added.
However, the secretary of state warned that travelling to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, is currently risky due to the conflict.
He explained that with Qatar’s airspace closed, “the only solution is to travel overland, by bus or car, to a safe point.”
Sousa described the repatriation effort as a complex mission that lasted almost 25 hours and passed through “extremely dangerous areas”.
