988 Egyptian workers return from Qatar via Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon airports

CAIRO – 31 July 2018: Around 988 Egyptian workers returned from Qatar via Kuwait, Jordan and Lebanon airports, which are the closest points for EgyptAir to launch additional flights to facilitate the Egyptians’ return to spend their vacation amid the Arab boycott.

EgyptAir launched six additional international flights to Qatar’s neighborly countries.
Qatar has been hit by its biggest diplomatic crisis in years after multiple Arab nations, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain, cut ties with the tiny peninsula, accusing it of destabilizing the region with its support for Islamist groups, a claim that Qatar rejects.

The Arab quartet halted all land, air and sea traffic with Qatar, and withdrew their diplomats and ambassadors from the country. The Arab quartet issued 13 demands to Doha – then shortened to six principles – including closing Al Jazeera television, curbing relations with Iran and shutting down a Turkish military base.

Since then, Qatar has resisted reconciliation attempts and has not exerted any effort to disassociate itself from the terrorist groups that the quartet claims are harbored and financially supported by Doha.

Hence, EgyptAir launched several direct flights between Egypt and Kuwait, allowing the return of hundreds of Egyptian workers deported from Qatar.

Facilitating the return of the deported workers through Kuwait highlights EgyptAir’s decision to operate additional flights to Kuwait after the suspension of the Cairo-Doha flights as part of a compete boycott imposed on the peninsula.

In its bid to resolve the current diplomatic riff between Gulf nations and Doha, Kuwait acts as a mediator between the two sides. Along with Oman, Kuwait has taken a neutral position in the dispute.