Dozens of dogs and cats arrived in Athens international airport on Wednesday evening together with their owners aboard a special evacuation flight for Greeks with pets who were stranded in the UAE due to the war in the Middle East.
Shortly after 19:30, airport “Eleftherios Venizelos” was filled with unusual and moving scenes with dogs, cats and their owners to be relieved to finally walk on solid ground.
It was the first special repatriation flight for pets and their owners stranded in the United Arab emirates, a flight organized by the Greek Foreign Ministry and executed by the Aegean airlines.
Γέμισε με ζώα συντροφιάς το «Ελευθέριος Βενιζέλος» – Έφτασε η πρώτη πτήση επαναπατρισμού ζώων
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“We had a very nice group, we gave 100%, we did the paperwork for the animals in no time, so that we could come to our homeland with our children, they are part of our lives, we could not leave them there,” said a woman who arrived with her dog in Athens from Abu Dhabi.
Operation “Ark” brought home 101 people and 45 pets with the overwhelming majority of them to be flown in the airplane cabin.
When evacuation flights started from Dubai and other emirates, pet owners put pressure on Greek authorities to facilitate the return of their pets as well since airlines do not allow more than three pets on a single flight.
the foreign ministry took action and despite some delays it managed to bring the group home.
PS Much to my knowledge Greece is the only country that organized a special flight for humans and pets.
