More than 350 Taiwanese tourists have flown out of Egypt, but nearly 200 are still in the country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.
A ministry-arranged Royal Jordanian Airlines charter evacuated 129 Taiwanese from Cairo to Amman, Jordan, on Monday and then flew them to Frankfurt, Germany, where they were waiting for a China Airlines flight yesterday afternoon to take them home.
The Royal Jordanian Airlines flight arrived in Frankfurt at 9:35am Taiwan time, Chang said. Its passengers were scheduled to arrive at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 6am tomorrow, ministry spokesman James Chang (章計平) said.
The ministry would pay for the passengers’ accommodation and transportation during their stay in Frankfurt, Chang said.
Another 232 Taiwanese were able to leave Cairo by flying to various destinations on extra flights arranged by Egypt’s national carrier Egypt Air, Chang said.
Egypt Air might also add extra flights in the coming days to meet the demand by international tourists, including Taiwanese, wanting to leave Egypt.
The ministry will “do everything it can” to help any Taiwanese still left in Egypt get out as soon as possible, Chang said.
After being accused of responding slowly to the situation, the ministry organized one charter flight to get people out on Monday, and it could organize others, if necessary, Chang said.
There are still 92 Taiwanese in Cairo and 100 in the city of Luxor, he said.
Some of the tourists in Luxor intended to finish their trip to the ancient city before returning home as the situation there appeared stable.
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