Egyptian violence continues
In a sign that foreign governments are becoming increasingly concerned about the dramatic and violent events in Egypt, on 1 February, the Australian Government chartered a Qantas aircraft, scheduled to arrive in Egypt on 2 February, in order to evacuate Australians from the country. Prime minister Julia Gillard said: “The evacuation flight will be available to take people from Egypt on Wednesday. The circumstances in Egypt are [thus] that we are saying to Australians to travel out of [the country]. As a result of that advice, many Australians have already made arrangements, commercial arrangements, to leave Egypt and they have confirmed commercial bookings.” The flight was made available to Australians at no cost to the passengers, and will return to either London or Frankfurt. From there, officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be available to meet people who come off the flight to assist them with making arrangements for their onward journey. Elsewhere, the US Department of State has announced that similar arrangements are being made for the voluntary evacuation of Americans still in Egypt. The first such flight has already left Cairo; a specially chartered Turkish Airlines plane carrying Turks and Americans landed in Istanbul on 1 February. At the time of writing, Cairo airport was still operational, but becoming increasingly crowded and due to the pressure placed on commercial flights, there is some disruption and delay. The Associated Press has reported that there are allegations of corruption surfacing, with some saying that police officers at the airport are demanding bribes before they allow foreigners to board their aircraft. Canadian tourist Tristin Hutton said on arrival at Frankfurt Airport: “People holding tickets had difficulties getting on the plane, because the airport in Cairo is pure chaos. The terminals are full of panicking people. The ground staff is disappearing, and at the gate, just before entering, we all together had to collect $2,000 for a policeman at the door … he would not let us leave without paying.” The Chinese government has also intervened on behalf of its citizens, with the first Air China flight, carrying 256 passengers, scheduled to land back in Beijing on 1 February. The Air China flight was one of six China has sent to Egypt, including a China Southern Airlines flight that has been sent to retrieve 220 Hong Kong residents stranded in Luxor. A military aircraft sent by Austrian authorities has already made it safely back to Vienna carrying German, French, Czech, British, Swiss, Chilean and Austrian nationals. From Iraq, three aircraft, including the one belonging to the prime minister, were sent to retrieve nationals who had fled to Egypt for more stability. Demonstrations across the country continue to defy the curfew imposed by the government, with hundreds of thousands of people in Cairo gathering in Tahrir Square to show their desire for change. In an attempt to control the number of people able to gather in the capital, the government has shut down road, rail and air routes into the city.
In a sign that foreign governments are becoming increasingly concerned about the dramatic and violent events in Egypt, on 1 February, the Australian Government chartered a Qantas aircraft, scheduled to arrive in Egypt on 2 February, in order to evacuate Australians from the country. Prime minister Julia Gillard said: “The evacuation flight will be available to take people from Egypt on Wednesday. The circumstances in Egypt are [thus] that we are saying to Australians to travel out of [the country]. As a result of that advice, many Australians have already made arrangements, commercial arrangements, to leave Egypt and they have confirmed commercial bookings.” The flight was made available to Australians at no cost to the passengers, and will return to either London or Frankfurt. From there, officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be available to meet people who come off the flight to assist them with making arrangements for their onward journey.
Elsewhere, the US Department of State has announced that similar arrangements are being made for the voluntary evacuation of Americans still in Egypt. The first such flight has already left Cairo; a specially chartered Turkish Airlines plane carrying Turks and Americans landed in Istanbul on 1 February.
At the time of writing, Cairo airport was still operational, but becoming increasingly crowded and due to the pressure placed on commercial flights, there is some disruption and delay. The Associated Press has reported that there are allegations of corruption surfacing, with some saying that police officers at the airport are demanding bribes before they allow foreigners to board their aircraft. Canadian tourist Tristin Hutton said on arrival at Frankfurt Airport: “People holding tickets had difficulties getting on the plane, because the airport in Cairo is pure chaos. The terminals are full of panicking people. The ground staff is disappearing, and at the gate, just before entering, we all together had to collect $2,000 for a policeman at the door … he would not let us leave without paying.”
The Chinese government has also intervened on behalf of its citizens, with the first Air China flight, carrying 256 passengers, scheduled to land back in Beijing on 1 February. The Air China flight was one of six China has sent to Egypt, including a China Southern Airlines flight that has been sent to retrieve 220 Hong Kong residents stranded in Luxor. A military aircraft sent by Austrian authorities has already made it safely back to Vienna carrying German, French, Czech, British, Swiss, Chilean and Austrian nationals. From Iraq, three aircraft, including the one belonging to the prime minister, were sent to retrieve nationals who had fled to Egypt for more stability.
Demonstrations across the country continue to defy the curfew imposed by the government, with hundreds of thousands of people in Cairo gathering in Tahrir Square to show their desire for change. In an attempt to control the number of people able to gather in the capital, the government has shut down road, rail and air routes into the city.