Israel's flag carrier El Al on Sunday said it has accepted a government's request to send additional rescue flights to bring back hundreds of Israelis stranded abroad due to the coronavirus crisis.
The government's request comes after the airline last week carried out several successful rescue missions to Peru and India, bringing home hundreds of Israeli nationals, who otherwise would be stuck overseas indefinitely as more and more states close their borders due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The company reported it is currently preparing flights to four destinations, including Australia, Brazil, Costa Rica, and another flight to India.
In addition, the Israeli flag carrier is also looking at the option of sending another flight to Thailand to bring back some 150 nationals that have been stuck in the country since the health crisis began.
Sunday morning, some 550 Israelis landed in Israel from India as the subcontinent was set to close its airspace in the coming days to fight the spread of the virus.
Hundreds of Israelis tried to exit the country in recent days but were unable to do as their plane tickets were canceled.
During the weekend, El Al also repatriated some 1,100 Israelis from Peru after the South American country was put in a complete lockdown and halted all international flights to combat the spread of COVID-19.