Delays caused by ground transportation between Israel and Egypt and border formalities postpone TAROM’s special repatriation flights scheduled for the evening of March 2
The company will operate the flights as soon as passengers can reach the airport and all operational conditions are in place for the safe conduct of the flights
Bucharest, March 1. The special flights organized to bring back more than 300 Romanians are rescheduled for the evening of March 2. Land transport and border formalities have led to significant delays for groups of passengers traveling to Cairo airport. Under these circumstances, the risk of crews exceeding their duty time (out-of-duty), with the potential to block the current operation, as well as aircraft in Egypt, is inevitable.
Due to the blockages at the Israel-Egypt land border and the delayed communication of information to TAROM, the estimated time of arrival of the Romanian groups at Cairo airport is around 6:00 a.m., in the most optimistic scenario. For the more than 300 passengers, the baggage acceptance and processing formalities will exceed the minimum time required for a timely takeoff (over 1 hour). Under these circumstances, there is an imminent risk of exceeding the crew’s working hours, with the potential for aircraft to be grounded in Egypt and an impact on TAROM flights to current destinations (crews and aircraft unavailable for flights operated on a regular basis).
In order to avoid rushing passengers to the airport under pressure – with the risk of blockages, errors, additional delays or tense situations – as well as the impact on scheduled operations, it was decided to postpone the repatriation and pick up the groups tomorrow evening from Cairo, under safe operating conditions.
The rescheduling of special flights for the evening of March 2 is being carried out in coordination with the Romanian and Egyptian authorities, the Romanian Consulate in Cairo, and the group organizers.
The company will operate the flights as soon as passengers can reach the airport, with all operational conditions in place for the safe conduct of the flights. TAROM thanks passengers for their understanding and cooperation in this situation caused by factors external to air transport.