The first Belgian repatriation flight from Oman arrived at Brussels Airport in Zaventem (Flemish Brabant) on Sunday morning. The aircraft had 195 nationals and dozens of other European citizens on board. ‘There was a lot of applause when we landed,’ said one of the relieved passengers.
Relief and joy prevailed in the airport's arrivals hall when the first Belgian repatriation flight from the Middle East landed safely at around 7.30 a.m. on Sunday.
The aircraft had departed from the Gulf state of Oman at around 9.20 p.m. on Saturday night and made a stopover in Hurghada (Egypt).
‘We are overjoyed,’ says a father who was waiting for his son and his girlfriend at the airport this morning. The two were on a Belgian air force plane arriving from Oman. ‘They were there on holiday. But they had two days of holiday and then the bombs started falling. Fortunately, they were able to return on the first flight.’
‘We were very worried for a week, we couldn't sleep. We were left in the dark for a long time. The Belgian foreign ministry is doing its best, but you always get someone else on the line. I don't blame anyone for that. Now that they have landed, we can only say “thank you” to everyone.’
He does not complain about the fact that the passengers have to pay the repatriation costs themselves. It was about 600 euros. ‘I don't think that's a big deal. We'll take care of it.’
The atmosphere on the plane was also jubilant, according to one of the returning passengers. ‘There was a lot of applause on the plane when we landed. We're home, and that's the most important thing.’
‘Communication was difficult at first, but afterwards everything went very well,’ he says about the repatriation process. ‘It took a long time, but that was not the fault of the people organising it.’
He also has no complaints about the 600 euros he had to pay for the flight. ‘When you see what happened afterwards at Dubai airport, paying 600 euros is very little. People need to learn to put things into perspective.’
His wife says that the whole situation had a profound impact on her. ‘Those people in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip have been living in such stressful situations every day for years. How can they do that? We only experienced it for three days, for goodness' sake.’
Another passenger looks back on this adventure with mixed feelings. ‘There have been many negative comments, including about us. But if you haven't been there, you can't really comment on it.’
‘Now you realise what it's like when on television you see that war has broken out somewhere. We weren't in the middle of it, but we experienced explosions 50 metres away from us. That makes you think. Afterwards, you get a fright every time a door slams shut.’
He says he wants to continue to follow the situation on the ground. ‘We really hope for the people out there that it doesn't escalate any further there.’