The First Phase of Evacuating the Citizens from Abroad

For the second consecutive day, the operation of evacuating the citizens returning to the country from abroad was smooth and efficient, whereby seven flights have been operated which comes within the first phase of a comprehensive evacuation of the citizens in light of the outbreak of the Coronavirus (SARS Cove-2) that causes the disease (COVID-19).

The flights that are part of the first phase, which will continue tomorrow, Tuesday, included the destinations of Dubai, Dammam, Manama, Abu Dhabi and Doha, awaiting the other flights scheduled progressively today, Monday.

H.E. President of Directorate General of Civil Aviation Sheikh/ Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Homoud Al-Sabah, confirmed in a press statement that the second phase of the plan of bringing back the citizens from abroad will commence next Thursday and will last for three days following the successful completion of the first phase, with the grace of God first and then the joint efforts of the government authorities as well as the bodies operating at Kuwait airport International.

Sheikh/ Salman Al-Homoud said that the plan of bringing back the citizens from abroad is a culmination of the directives of His Highness the Amir of the country Sheikh/ Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, which was translated by the Council of Ministers headed by His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, who instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to supervise this national mission and accomplish it from all aspects, pointing to the close and constant follow-up of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh/ Dr. Ahmed Al-Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah for this file.

He explained that “Civil Aviation” has completed during the past few days an integrated plan with follow-up from the Minister of State for Services Affairs & Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Mr./ Mubarak Al-Hurrais on the progress of the plan.

He made mention that a clear protocol was developed for the organizational steps containing the responsibilities of the government authorities, airline companies and ground-services companies, each in its area of speciality that includes the procedures to be implemented as from the departure of the citizens from the external stations, through boarding the aircraft and during the flight until the arrival to Kuwait International Airport and entering the examination centres to apply the procedures of the Ministry of Health, and then moving to the Passports and Customs Hall, luggage delivery areas, until exiting the airport, whether to the home or institutional quarantine, or to the hospital, may God forbid.

He praised the efforts of all government bodies participating in the plan of bringing back the citizens, headed by the Ministries of Health, Interior and Finance as well as the Central Agency for Information Technology, General Department of Customs and Fire General Department. He also extended his thanks to Kuwait Airways Company and Jazeera Airways as well as Kuwait Red Crescent Society who supervised providing assistance to the arriving passengers.

The Chairman of Kuwait Airways Company – Mr./ Yousef Al-Jassem, confirmed yesterday by saying that “Our company has prepared for the major evacuation phase with all our capabilities being harnessed for the success of transporting and receiving our returning people. Besides, the relevant work plans were approved after discussing its complete details and stressing on implementing them fully, this in addition to the readiness of the teams in-charge.”

It is worth mentioning that Kuwait Airways is assuming the responsibility of operating about 40 flights distributed over the first three days of the period specified for the evacuation flights. Meanwhile, the “Civil Aviation” confirmed yesterday that the evacuation of the Kuwaiti citizens through Kuwait International Airport is progressing successfully, amid complete preparations to receive those returning from abroad.