(new: details)
BERLIN/FRANKFURT/DUBAI (dpa-AFX) – More and more people who were stranded in the Middle East because of the Iran war have now been able to return to Germany and Europe. The last cruise guests from TUI Cruises are on their way back to Germany, said a company spokesman for the German Press Agency. These are the remaining 180 passengers of the “Mein Schiff 5”.
The passengers of the “Mein Schiff 4”, which was also in the region, were brought back to Germany a few days ago. Both ships have space for a good 5,000 passengers.
The tour operator Dertour also says it has now brought the majority of its guests from the affected regions back to Germany. “As of today, almost all guests are back at home,” the company said. The return journey has already been organized for the few remaining holidaymakers.
More than 1,000 people were brought back on special flights
Numerous stranded holidaymakers also found their way back to Germany via special flights from the Foreign Office. According to the Foreign Office, more than 1,000 people have already been able to return from Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar on five special flights. In the evening, another special flight from Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) including a bus transfer from Qatar was expected in Berlin.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) also took German tourists on board his Bundeswehr transport plane on his trip from Qatar to Riyadh on Wednesday in order to enable them to travel home from there.
The EU has already organized more than 70 flights and brought back over 8,000 people from the Middle East, as the EU Commission announced. According to the information, a total of 23 member states have requested the EU’s support so far, Germany is not among them. There will be more flights in the next few days, the commission said.
Return operations “enormous logistical challenge”
Air travel to and from the Middle East remains complicated. The Lufthansa Group announced that it would not fly to Dubai until March 28th. The two airports in the Arab emirate have reportedly significantly reduced their handling capacities.
The German Travel Association also spoke of the extremely volatile situation in the region. In total, tens of thousands of organizer guests have been stranded in the Gulf states since the outbreak of the war. In view of the ongoing airspace closures and severely limited flight connections, the travel association spoke of an enormous logistical challenge in the return operations./gut/DP/nas
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