We forecast that some two thousand French tourists are stranded in Indonesia. Hence, we organize several homebound flights in cooperation with Qatar Airways.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - France repatriated over one thousand tourists aboard chartered flights from Indonesia in the wake of the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

The French Embassy in Jakarta took the initiative to repatriate thousands of French tourists from Indonesia after their homebound flights were cancelled since several countries closed their borders to curb the spread of coronavirus.

"We forecast some two thousand French tourists are stranded in Indonesia. Hence, we are offering several homebound flights in cooperation with Qatar Airways," Press Attaché of the French Embassy Dominique Roubert remarked on Monday.

Some 400 French tourists were flown home from the Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali aboard a Qatar Airways aircraft on Friday (March 27) and another 400 on Saturday (March 28)

France again airlifted its citizens from the Soekarno-Hatta Airport, west of Jakarta, aboard a Qatar Airways aircraft on Sunday (March 29).

"Another flight batch is scheduled to depart from Denpasar (Bali) tonight, and thereafter, we will evaluate the situation before planning subsequent flights," he revealed.

Dominique expounded that the repatriation policy was solely applicable to French tourists and not French nationals residing in Indonesia.

The facility has also been extended to tourists from other European countries, he noted.

"There is no call for French citizens residing in Indonesia to return home," he added.

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Translator: Yashinta Difa Pramudyani/Suhar
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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