156 people who were stranded in Morocco have been repatriated to Ireland following a week in limbo.
Flights to and from the North African country were suspended on 29th November after the discovery of the new Omicron variant.
With no return to commercial flights to Ireland expected in the near future, the newly established Irish Embassy in Rabat, Morocco chartered a private service from Ryanair.
On board were mostly Irish citizens, but a number of British and EU citizens were also included.
Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney tweeted his thanks to consular staff who he said had done a “great job” organising the flight.
Slán abhaile! 🛫Wheels now up on an Irish Government repatriation flight from Morocco. 156 passengers are bound for Dublin this evening including citizens from many of our closest partners 🇪🇺🇧🇪🇭🇷🇨🇿🇩🇰🇷🇴🇱🇻🇪🇸🇬🇧. Great job by @irlembrabat pic.twitter.com/scQqSS6CWu
— Irish Foreign Ministry (@dfatirl) December 4, 2021
They arrived on Saturday evening - just before new rules kicked in that require anyone entering an Irish airport to have a negative result from a recent, professional PCR or antigen test.
Main image: A Ryanair flight comes into view. Picture by: Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio/Sipa USA
