A total of 285 Jordanians arrived in the Kingdom from Libya Monday night on board a Royal Jordanian flight, fleeing the escalating violence in the North African country, The Jordan Times reported.
Officials said that 50 others were still stranded at Benghazi International Airport.
"According to the Jordanian embassy in Tripoli, nearly 9,000 Jordanians are currently staying in different Libyan cities. The embassy is in continuous contact with Jordanian expatriates there and have not received any complaints by any individual," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mohammad Kayed told The Jordan Times on Monday.
He added that the ministry is coordinating with RJ in order to dispatch flights to Libya whenever the need arises, adding that technical and administrative obstacles are expected due to the unplanned closure of the Benghazi airport. The airline managed to secure special permission to operate its flights.
Meanwhile, RJ CEO Hussein Dabbas said in a statement yesterday that the airline is continuing its operations between Amman and Tripoli, to transport Jordanians who wish to return to the Kingdom in light of the exceptional conditions in the Arab country.
Dabbas said that RJ will operate the wide-bodied, 285-seat Airbus A330 in order to carry the largest number of passengers back home, noting that the airline's employees working at Tripoli airport are exerting utmost efforts in cooperation with the Jordanian embassy in Libya to facilitate the journey to safety for nationals.
"RJ will continue its service to Tripoli in the coming days, in coordination with airport authorities and the Jordanian embassy, whereas RJ flights between Amman and Benghazi have been suspended since last Friday due to the airport closure," said Dabbas, reiterating the airline's readiness to operate flights to Benghazi airport as soon as it reopens.
Before the outbreak of violence, RJ operated five weekly flights to Tripoli and two to Benghazi.