site.btaUPDATED Government Carries Out Successful Evacuation Flight from Tel Aviv

Ninety-six people, most of them with Bulgarian citizenship, and some with Israeli family members, successfully landed in Sofia around 1 am on October 14 with a government Airbus flight from Tel Aviv, reported the Foreign Ministry.

At the airport, as with the previous three flights, the arrivals were welcomed by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mariya Gabriel.

"Bulgaria was the first country that helped Bulgarians in need to return home. We are guided by two things - care for our compatriots and coordinated actions," Gabriel stated hours before in the National Assembly.

Gabriel and Transport and Communications Minister Georgi Gvozdeykov issued a joint statement and stressed that they are working in full coordination. "We have said from day one that the government plane will make flights as long as it is possible and as long as our compatriots need it," said Gabriel.

"When there is a need, we will organize another flight to Israel,"  said Gvozdeykov on Nova TV.  He added that there was permission for a second flight to Tel Aviv on Friday night, but according to the Bulgarian embassy in Israel, not enough people expressed interest. 

"We work in coordination with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our embassy in Israel, added Gvozdeykov. So far, with the first two flights, 170-180 people have returned to the country, most of whom were in Israel for short-term visits, such as tourism, work trips, and medical trips. "We continue to monitor the situation and if there is an escalation, we are ready to respond," the Minister was adamant, adding that no complete evacuation has yet been announced.

He explained that in this complex situation, flights by government aircraft are possible because they are under a different jurisdiction than that of civil flights.