Russian tourists leaving Tunisia

MOSCOW, Russia – About 100 Russian tourists, which could not fly home by a Transaero flight on Sunday, may do that in the small morning hours of Thursday, January 20, Federal Tourism Agency spokesman

MOSCOW, Russia – About 100 Russian tourists, which could not fly home by a Transaero flight on Sunday, may do that in the small morning hours of Thursday, January 20, Federal Tourism Agency spokesman Oleg Moseyev told the Vesti FM radio.

A Boeing 767 of Russiaโ€™s Transaero airline has departed from the Tunisian resort city of Monastir with 235 tourists onboard. The arrival in Moscowโ€™s Domodedovo Airport is due at 9:30 p.m.

Two-thirds of the passengers are tourists, and the others are people who work or permanently reside in Tunisia, head of the consular department of the Russian embassy in Tunisia Alexander Mamin told Itar-Tass.

About 100-110 Russian tourists whose vacations were organized by tourist companies are staying in Tunisia. They will fly home by regular flights. The total number of Russians remaining in Tunisia is from 1,500 t0 1,700.

โ€œA total of 235 tourists will be given transportation today, that is the number a Boeing 767 jet can carry,โ€ Moseyev told Itar-Tass earlier. โ€œIt is simply impossible to take more people aboard, so another flight may be necessary to bring home everyone wishing,โ€ he said.

โ€œSome 200 tourists had their Tunisian vacations organized by tourist companies, and there are individual tourists too. Their number is impossible to estimate,โ€ Moseyev said. โ€œHowever, transportation will be provided to everyone wishing,โ€ he added.

Moseyev presumed that families and reporters would meet the tourists at the airport.

โ€œThe tourists are all right,โ€ he remarked.

โ€œThe situation in Tunisia is normalizing, and the flight due on January 20 is quite possible,โ€ he said.

A special telephone line was opened for families of the tourists to provide information about the planeโ€™s departure and legal matters. The line will operate until the situation fully normalizes, the agency said.

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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