Return to Portugal. Flight from Morocco on Sunday and two more from Mozambique next week
The Portuguese embassy in Rabat, Morocco, announced this Friday that a TAP repatriation flight from Marrakesh to Lisbon will take place on Sunday. This information has already been confirmed to the TSF by Berta Nunes, Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities.
“The flight is now available for reservations and will arrive on December 5, from Marrakesh. The list has more than 160 people, which has since been consolidated by our consular section in Rabat. More than 160 Portuguese who were in Morocco and want to return or others situations of people who fall into those categories of return flights, such as people who have residency status in Portugal”, explained to TSF Berta Nunes.
From Mozambique, the two completed flights are already booked, but Berta Nunes guarantees that there are two more new flights confirmed.
“For December 8th and 9th and December 10th and 11th. We will continue to monitor the situation and organize flights for all Portuguese to return to Portugal to be able to do so,” added the Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities.
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The Portuguese embassy made the announcement on its official Facebook social network account. According to the embassy, the flight takes place, in the context of the resolution of the Council of Ministers of 27 November, which defines the measures applicable to air traffic to and from mainland Portugal, “including flights of a nature humanitarian relief for the purpose of repatriation, given that there is currently a suspension of all direct passenger flights to Morocco, as per the decision of that country.”
Also according to the same note, “can board the flight” citizens of Portuguese nationality or holders of a residence permit in Portugal, but also nationals of other European Union countries and States associated with the Schengen Area as well as members of their respective families.
In addition to these, third country nationals can still travel on this repatriation flight, but residing in a legal Member State of the European Union, which will go in transit to their country of origin or legal residence and people in humanitarian conditions.
The embassy in Morocco also informs that “there are no other support flights of this nature from Morocco, so it recommends that all Portuguese who want to return to Portugal take advantage of this opportunity.”
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The embassy advises that all passengers, whether or not vaccinated against Covid-19, must provide a negative RT-PCR (or similar NAAT) test result, taken within 72 hours of departure.
Alternatively, passengers can take an antigen test (TRAg), carried out up to 48 hours before departure. However, only usual antigenic testicles are accepted by the European Union Health Safety Committee for travel, Portugal’s diplomatic representation in Rabat.
Recovery EU Covid Digital Certificate holders (valid for 180 days) can also present it as proof, which is one of the exceptions to the above rules. The other exception is children who are under 12 years old.
The embassy also emphasizes that passengers traveling in Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Essuatini, Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe in the 14 days prior to arrival in Portugal must comply with a period of prophylactic isolation of 14 days on arrival, without a residence or in places indicated by the health authorities.
Covid-19 has caused at least 5,233,111 deaths worldwide, among more than 263.61 million infections with the new coronavirus registered since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the latest report by the Agence France-Presse.
In Portugal, since March 2020, 18,492 people have died and 1,157,352 cases of infection have been recorded, according to data from the General Directorate of Health.
The respiratory disease is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, detected in late 2019 in Wuhan, a city in central China, and currently with variants identified in several countries.
A new variant, an Omicron, was recently detected in South Africa, with 19 cases having been identified so far in Portugal.
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