Manama: Kuwaiti citizens and residents are being repatriated from Egypt on free flights, Roudhan Al Roudhan, the state minister for cabinet affairs, said.
"The Emir's directives have been given to officials in Kuwait Airways who were requested to coordinate efforts with Cairo International Airport authorities in order to allow extra flights to land in the airport," he said, quoted by Kuwait News Agency (Kuna).
Khaled Al Jarallah, the foreign ministry undersecretary, said that the ministry has been closely monitoring the situation of Kuwaiti citizens living in Egypt through a special operations room set up for the task in coordination with the Kuwaiti embassy in Cairo.
"The embassy has provided lodging for Kuwaitis in hotels close to the airport," Al Jarallah said.
Kuwait Airways Chairman and Managing Director Hamad Al Falah said that the airline would be organising an extra flight from the Egyptian capital to take Kuwaitis home.
The airline's other flights will not cease and its offices will remain open 24 hours a day.
In Manama, Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa said that extra flights by Gulf Air will help bring home Bahrainis living, studying or traveling in Egypt.
The embassy has set up a hotline to offer assistance to all Bahrainis keen on information or planning to go home.
The embassy had set up similar help lines in Tunisia during the protests in December and January and in Syria to help Bahrainis in Lebanon.
Manama does not have an embassy in Beirut, and Shaikh Khalid on Saturday evening said that Bahrain plans to open diplomatic representations in Lebanon and Italy this year.
