Another 222 Swiss have returned home on a special flight. The desire to travel is back – Swiss travel almost as much as before Corona

Swiss’ fourth and currently last special flight from Tel Aviv to Zurich arrived safely in Switzerland on Friday evening. The plane landed at Zurich airport at 9:54 p.m. About 880 Swiss nationals have flown out of Israel in recent days.

There were 212 adults and children and 10 infants on board the plane on Friday evening, an airline spokeswoman said when requested by the Keystone-SDA news agency.

After this flight, Swiss airline will no longer bring Swiss citizens home from Israel on special flights. On Friday it canceled two evacuation flights scheduled for Saturday at short notice. The reason for the decision is safety concerns.

The Israeli government’s ultimatum to Hamas expires on Saturday morning, the airline announced on Friday afternoon. From this point on, an Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip and a further escalation of violence can be expected. It is therefore not responsible to operate the flights until further notice.

During the first evacuation flight, 224 people were flown to Switzerland late on Tuesday evening. A second special flight followed on Wednesday evening with 215 people. A third special flight brought 224 people back to Switzerland on Thursday.

There will be no regular Swiss flights to Tel Aviv until at least October 22. The airline announced that the suspension of connections will be extended for safety reasons.

The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs (EDA) recommends that Swiss citizens continue to consider other commercial flight options and other departure options. For its part, the FDFA is exploring further solutions to provide subsidiary assistance to Swiss citizens in Israel who want to leave the country. (sda)