The Greek government organized an evacuation flight out of the United Arab Emirates specially-chartered for pets and their owners who couldn’t get seats on commercial airlines.
Every nation will have activated different contingencies to advise, protect, and help extract their citizens from the Persian Gulf states since Israel and the US launched their attacks against Iran.
For Greeks, their government paid close attention to one particular aspect of their citizens predicament—how they can flee with their four-legged family members.
On Wednesday, a flight touched down in Athens carrying more than a hundred passengers and their pets—the result of efforts to bypass the difficult process of flying internationally with companion animals.
“Our pets are not luggage, they are part of our families,” said the Greek Interior Ministry’s Special Secretary for the Protection of Companion Animals, Nikos Chrysakis.
The UAE, Qatar, and other nearby countries have been forced to repeatedly close their airspace and cancel thousands of flights over the 20 days of bombings and missile attacks, stranding hundreds of thousands of passengers. Attempting to fly with a pet has proven even harder than normal, a Greek cat owner told AP.
A hub of expatriates of all kinds, drawn by the once glamorous lifestyle, low taxes, and lovely weather, there were no shortage of Greeks that needed help escaping Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
When the special Aegean Air flight full of these expats touched down in Athens, joyous scenes followed; not only of locals seeing their loved ones and relatives return safe and sound, but of stressed pets leaping out of carriers and crates into their arms of their owners.
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“It is very, very difficult to fly out of the country with your pets,” said Danai Koukoulomati, who arrived home with her cat, Muay Thai.
Another owner told the AP that returning to Greece safely with her dog Sirkati was “absolutely fantastic.”
According to Chrysakis, the Greek interior and foreign ministries had worked together for days “so we can have this good result, for the animals and people to return home safely.”
BARK About This Great Work On Behalf Of Stranded Citizens To Your Friends…