Air Belgium and TUIfly Belgium might participate in repatriation flights from Afghanistan

Belgian Defence has reached an agreement with Air Belgium and TUIfly Belgium to carry out the repatriation of Belgian nationals from Afghanistan to Belgium, according to news published in the newspapers of the Sudpresse Group, but not confirmed by TUI.

Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimated at 580 the number of people to be repatriated, among which 344 with a Belgian passport, 222 people of Afghan nationality linked to a Belgian and a few more people of Dutch or Luxembourg nationality linked to a Belgian national.

Two C-130s deployed as part of the “Red Kite” operation to evacuate Belgian nationals and their families from Afghanistan will make their first rotations between Islamabad airport in Pakistan and Kabul on Friday. They will each make two rotations on Friday. The Belgian representatives on-site will ensure that the aircraft are filled to their maximum capacity (around sixty people), knowing that the available boarding time is reduced to thirty minutes.

SudInfo learned this Thursday that the authorities might have reached an agreement with Air Belgium and TUIfly Belgium to operate flights this weekend between Islamabad and Brussels. In total, there would be four organised flights. Sarah Saucin, a spokesperson for TUIfly, said to Aviation24.be that the information is not confirmed, but recognises that TUIfly received a request from Belgian Defence.

In a similar way, Lufthansa cooperates with the German government to repatriate German nationals.