Saturday 27 / April / 2024
Muscat: A Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) jet carrying 71 Omani nationals from trouble-torn Turkey touched down safely in Muscat on Monday night.
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Some 300 Omanis decided to remain in Turkey following the failed military coup. More than 6,000 Turkish citizens have been detained and 3,000 judges were removed from the office.
The Royal Air Force of Oman plane flew to Istanbul yesterday lunchtime and took 71 nationals on board.
Many who had originally opted to leave changed their minds and stayed on in the country, now settling again after a military attempt to seize control.
No Omanis have been injured or killed in the bloody military coup, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the flight was scheduled at the request of the Oman Embassy in Istanbul, which had received calls from Omanis wishing to leave businesses and holiday plans behind.
The country’s main airport has now reopened, but airlines are still not flying in or out of the troubled nation and flights have been delayed. The rescue flight took off from Ataturk Airport in Istanbul at around 4:30pm local time yesterday with 71 passengers on board. “All the Omanis were asked to report at the airport around 12pm today,” an Oman embassy official in Turkey said.
On Saturday, Oman’s Foreign Ministry had announced it would evacuate Omanis via private aircraft.
“While around 300 Omani nationals wished to stay in Turkey, saying that conditions have improved, around 71 Omani nationals left for Oman,” the official revealed. The aircraft sent to Turkey is an Airbus owned and operated by the Royal Air Force of Oman kitted out for civilian transport.
Turkey is among the more popular tourist destinations for Omanis, drawing about 15,000 to 20,000 tourists. Travel industry sources said about 200 passengers take flights to Turkey from the city every day for business and leisure. Mehmed Zingal, country manager of Turkish Airlines in Oman, said they also resumed their operations from Sunday. “Everything is returning to normal and we are committed to operating nine flights a week to Oman,” he said.
