What do you do for the Belgians stuck there?

In order to prevent the spread of the ‘Omicron’ virus on its territory, Morocco announced on Sunday that it will close its airspace to commercial flights starting Monday at 11:59 pm. A swiftly taken action, which promptly cornered many tourists.

According to Marie Cherchary, the State Department’s spokeswoman for foreign affairs, about 700 Belgians have already applied. On Travelers Online. It also calls on those concerned to do so as well, so that the authorities have a good view of the situation.

Commercial flights may be permitted in the coming days to bring back Belgians who wish to do so. “We have submitted authorization requests for return flights, which will be operated by the airlines. Tickets can be purchased. We invite Belgians who are currently in Morocco and who should return in the coming days to keep in touch with their company about these potential flights to come in the coming days.“

Expensive flights available

But on the part of the Belgians stuck in Morocco, we would like a more realistic solution. “We just got a message that the flight has been canceled, quite simply, that we can resume the flight later, and they will make up for it., says Patrick Nouvel, whose flight was leaving next Sunday. But there is no practical solution to be able to return to Belgium.”

The latter called the Belgian embassy, ​​which also advised him to book a commercial flight … and thus paid. “The flights that remained available were very expensive, with flight paths ranging from 27 to 40 hours, he regrets. I was also told that maybe I should consider a flight through France and back to Belgium on my own.But Morocco also suspended flights to France.

►►► Read also: Spain: Flights from South Africa suspended until December 15

TUI confirms that it is awaiting licenses to operate the flights. “We are in contact with our customers, we try to inform them as much as possible“.

But Marie Cherchari would like to point out that this is not the first time that Morocco has banned flights in this way.”It is their way of dealing with the epidemic“.

“Travelers should be aware that the authorities of the countries visited may make decisions that may affect their trip.It therefore calls for caution on trips outside the European Union, which are always “strongly discouraged”, and to refer to travel advisories. On Diplatie.be.