airBaltic plans to conduct evacuation flight from Israel

RIGA - Latvian national airline airBaltic plans to make a special evacuation flight from Israel today at the request from the Foreign Ministry, the ministry's press secretary Diāna Eglīte informed LETA.

She said that the Foreign Ministry had asked airBaltic to operate a special flight between Riga and Tel Aviv in order to ensure the possibility of returning home for those Latvian nationals who wish to leave Israel.

At the same time, airBaltic representatives told LETA that 148 seats will be available on the flight.

The company stressed that the safety of passengers, crew and flights is airBaltic's top priority, so the airline is closely monitoring the situation in Israel and reserves the right to change or cancel the planned flight if circumstances change.

Eglite told in an interview with commercial TV3 television this morning that the information currently available to the Foreign Ministry indicates that the planned flight will be operated this morning. All seats on the plane are occupied - mainly by Latvian citizens, but there will also be ten Estonian and three Lithuanian citizens among the passengers. There will also be a number of Israeli citizens who will use the airBaltic flight to return to Israel from Latvia.

Eglite noted that a number of Latvian nationals have left Israel already earlier on flights organized by Lithuania, France and Greece. She admitted that if the situation in Israel deteriorates, more people might want to leave the country and then new flights would be discussed.