The Belgian army has reached an agreement with Air Belgium and TUIfly Belgium to repatriate Belgian citizens from Afghanistan to Belgium, according to news published in the Group's newspapers. sudpresse, but which have not been confirmed by TUI.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimated the number of people to be repatriated at 580, including 344 with Belgian passports, 222 Afghans with a connection to Belgium and several Dutch or Luxembourg nationals.
Two C-130 aircraft are part of Operation Red Kite to evacuate Belgian citizens and their families from Afghanistan. On Friday, they made the first rotations between Pakistan's Islamabad airport and Kabul. Belgian on-site representatives will ensure that the aircraft are filled to capacity (approximately sixty people), knowing that the available boarding time is reduced to thirty minutes.
SudInfo a found out on Thursday that authorities could 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 organized flights. Sarah Saucin, a spokeswoman for TUIfly, told Aviation24.be that the information is not confirmed, but acknowledges that TUIfly received a request from the Belgian defense.
Similarly, Lufthansa cooperates with the German government for the repatriation of German citizens.