The Foriegn Ministry has made many efforts to bring Israelis home from abroad recently, as the coronavirus has casused more and more countries to close their airspaces around the world.
El Al is adding flights, subject to government approval, in the upcoming days as apart of the effort to bring the Israelis back. Two flights are desginated to take off as soon as Tuesday from New Dehli, India and Perth, Australia, one flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil on Wednesday.
Two flights are expected to take-off on Thursday, one from San Jose, Costa Rica, and an additional flight from India where it is estimated that there are still 2,000 Israelis trying to leave. More than 1,000 Israelis in India have already been brought back in recent days.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz met with Ben-Gurion Airport manager Shmuel Zakai, along with representatives of El Al, Arkia and Israir to coordinate in helping Israelis return as soon as possible.
The airlines agreed to plan flights to a variety of destinations in which there are large concentrations of Israelis, according to Foreign Ministry recommendations. Thousands of Israelis have been brought back already from places such as Peru, Brazil, and Moldova. The majority of Israelis returning, are young people on their post-army trips. Some are travelling in more remote areas, such as the mountains in Argentina, where the news of the virus, and or the call for the Foreign Ministry for Israelis to return home may not have home. Many Israelis still in countries with still active airports are also finding their own way back to the country, without the help of the major airlines. Lagav Harkov contributed to this post.