2 planes with room for nearly 600 expected to travel to Frankfurt today.
Canadians hoping to flee Egypt board a bus at Cairo International Airport en route to an Air Canada flight that will take them to Frankfurt, Germany. (Nahlah Ayed/CBC) The federal government plans to put Canadians on flights out of Egypt starting Monday afternoon, but some trying to flee the country in its seventh day of violent protests say they are having difficulty getting departure details.
Foreign Affairs said they are operating on plans for two flights out of Egypt on Monday, with room for a total of 585 passengers.But the CBC's Nahlah Ayed told CBC News Network "it appears there may be only one plane leaving [Cairo] today."
Reporting from outside Cairo's airport, where she says some 200 Canadians were being processed before entering the terminal, Ayed said a flight that was to have left already had not departed."There was mention possibly of another plane tomorrow because there were supposed to be two today," Ayed reported. "That second plane may be there for whoever shows up tomorrow, but the process itself is fluid and it's difficult to determine exactly how it goes."
The first flight was an Air Canada plane scheduled to leave Cairo for Frankfurt, Germany, at 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) with room for 335 passengers. The second flight, with room for 250 passengers, was scheduled to leave Cairo at 7 p.m. local time (noon ET). Annilee Guy of Victoria told CBC News Monday that she and her friends had "been up all night" to try to secure a spot on one of the government-organized flights.
Canadians in Egypt who want to leave should:
•Call Canada's embassy in Cairo at 20 2 2791 8700.
•Call collect to the Foreign Affairs Department's emergency operations centre in Ottawa at (613) 996-8885.
Relatives in Canada can contact the centre toll-free at (800) 606-5499.
"We were really lucky," Guy said. "We got through to the embassy at about 3 a.m. (8 p.m. ET) and were able to give them our passport information, so that is why we were able to get on this flight." Five hours later, the Canadian Embassy contacted Guy and four friends and told them to "get to the airport as soon as possible," she said. Many of her colleagues at the British Columbia Canadian International School in Cairo, however, were still waiting to find out if and when they would be able to leave.
'Really excited to get on the plane'
"There's a lot more Canadians than just two planes trying to escape," Guy said. "It's a really terrifying situation right now."
In recent days, looters have targeted her wealthy neighbourhood. Members of a "vigilante neighbourhood watch" stand on street corners, using crutches, tree branches and clubs to fend them off. "Last night the apartment I was at, there were two men who had machine guns, so there were two tanks who followed them into this sandy sort of area behind the apartment building I was staying in," Guy said.
"All my colleagues and friends are kind of in the same boat, wondering what we were going to do next. We packed everything that we owned, as much as we could, into one suitcase and just going to be really excited to get on the plane." At least 100 Canadians were at Cairo International Airport on Monday afternoon, waiting for information on when exactly they might leave, Ayed reported. "Some of them complained the process was confusing and that when they arrived at the airport, they didn't really have a lot of direction, but it seems that things are under control now," Ayed said.
For others, the airport was a scene of chaos and confusion. Shouting matches erupted and some passengers even had a fistfight as thousands crammed inside the airport's new Terminal 3 seeking a flight home.
In an attempt to reduce tensions, the airport's departures board stopped announcing flight times — but that simply fuelled anger over cancelled or delayed flights.Check-in counters were poorly staffed because many EgyptAir employees had been unable to get to work due to a 3 p.m. to 8 a.m. curfew and traffic breakdowns across the Egyptian capital.
Stranded in Alexandria
For Donia Ahmed, trying to secure a spot on a flight has proven an immense challenge. Passengers trying to leave Egypt were stranded and forced to sleep overnight at Cairo International Airport. (Bertrand Combaldieu/Associated Press) "I have no information," said Ahmed, who is visiting family in the port city of Alexandria with her two young daughters.Ahmed told CBC News she has been calling the Canadian Embassy in Cairo since Tuesday, but has heard nothing back. "I tried maybe three times, four times, [and] they did not reply to me," Ahmed said Monday morning. "I have three numbers. They are busy, or on the answering machine there is no space to leave a message."
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Follow the chaos in Egypt as it unfolds online. Calls by the CBC to a toll-free number established by Foreign Affairs also found that the voice mailbox was full; callers were unable to leave a message. Ahmed said the local television station has been broadcasting evacuation hotline numbers for American, Israeli, Saudi Arabian, Turkish and Iraqi citizens."But no presence of the Canadian in all of the channel," she said.
Opposition to hold Tories to account
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Monday the government was "looking for options" to help evacuate Canadians from cities other than Cairo, such as Alexandria. "Individuals located outside of Cairo are advised not to try to make their way to Cairo for safety reasons," Cannon said in a press release. He was expected to hold a press conference about the evacuations at 11 a.m. ET. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said his party would be "holding the government to account and making sure that they do absolutely everything to help Canadians" in Egypt.
Flights "have been slow getting there," Ignatieff said, before adding he didn't want to "play politics with this." "Let's work as Canadians to get Canadians to safety," he said. On Sunday, Cannon said Canada would organize chartered flights from Cairo to hubs in Paris, London and Frankfurt, where Canada has large consular staffs able to help the evacuees. Evacuees are to pay their own fares and will be responsible for their passage from Europe back to Canada, Cannon said.
Egypt has been in turmoil since Tuesday, when anti-government demonstrators began fierce protests calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
Cannon said Sunday the flights would accommodate between 700 and 800 Canadians. At least 1,200 Canadians are registered at the Canadian Embassy in Cairo; there are an estimated 6,500 Canadians living in Egypt.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2011/01/31/egypt-canadian-evacuees.html?ref=rss#ixzz1CdIR3xi4
Canadians hoping to flee Egypt board a bus at Cairo International Airport en route to an Air Canada flight that will take them to Frankfurt, Germany. (Nahlah Ayed/CBC) The federal government plans to put Canadians on flights out of Egypt starting Monday afternoon, but some trying to flee the country in its seventh day of violent protests say they are having difficulty getting departure details.
Foreign Affairs said they are operating on plans for two flights out of Egypt on Monday, with room for a total of 585 passengers.But the CBC's Nahlah Ayed told CBC News Network "it appears there may be only one plane leaving [Cairo] today."
Reporting from outside Cairo's airport, where she says some 200 Canadians were being processed before entering the terminal, Ayed said a flight that was to have left already had not departed."There was mention possibly of another plane tomorrow because there were supposed to be two today," Ayed reported. "That second plane may be there for whoever shows up tomorrow, but the process itself is fluid and it's difficult to determine exactly how it goes."
The first flight was an Air Canada plane scheduled to leave Cairo for Frankfurt, Germany, at 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET) with room for 335 passengers. The second flight, with room for 250 passengers, was scheduled to leave Cairo at 7 p.m. local time (noon ET). Annilee Guy of Victoria told CBC News Monday that she and her friends had "been up all night" to try to secure a spot on one of the government-organized flights.
Canadians in Egypt who want to leave should:
•Call Canada's embassy in Cairo at 20 2 2791 8700.
•Call collect to the Foreign Affairs Department's emergency operations centre in Ottawa at (613) 996-8885.
Relatives in Canada can contact the centre toll-free at (800) 606-5499.
"We were really lucky," Guy said. "We got through to the embassy at about 3 a.m. (8 p.m. ET) and were able to give them our passport information, so that is why we were able to get on this flight." Five hours later, the Canadian Embassy contacted Guy and four friends and told them to "get to the airport as soon as possible," she said. Many of her colleagues at the British Columbia Canadian International School in Cairo, however, were still waiting to find out if and when they would be able to leave.
'Really excited to get on the plane'
"There's a lot more Canadians than just two planes trying to escape," Guy said. "It's a really terrifying situation right now."
In recent days, looters have targeted her wealthy neighbourhood. Members of a "vigilante neighbourhood watch" stand on street corners, using crutches, tree branches and clubs to fend them off. "Last night the apartment I was at, there were two men who had machine guns, so there were two tanks who followed them into this sandy sort of area behind the apartment building I was staying in," Guy said.
"All my colleagues and friends are kind of in the same boat, wondering what we were going to do next. We packed everything that we owned, as much as we could, into one suitcase and just going to be really excited to get on the plane." At least 100 Canadians were at Cairo International Airport on Monday afternoon, waiting for information on when exactly they might leave, Ayed reported. "Some of them complained the process was confusing and that when they arrived at the airport, they didn't really have a lot of direction, but it seems that things are under control now," Ayed said.
For others, the airport was a scene of chaos and confusion. Shouting matches erupted and some passengers even had a fistfight as thousands crammed inside the airport's new Terminal 3 seeking a flight home.
In an attempt to reduce tensions, the airport's departures board stopped announcing flight times — but that simply fuelled anger over cancelled or delayed flights.Check-in counters were poorly staffed because many EgyptAir employees had been unable to get to work due to a 3 p.m. to 8 a.m. curfew and traffic breakdowns across the Egyptian capital.
Stranded in Alexandria
For Donia Ahmed, trying to secure a spot on a flight has proven an immense challenge. Passengers trying to leave Egypt were stranded and forced to sleep overnight at Cairo International Airport. (Bertrand Combaldieu/Associated Press) "I have no information," said Ahmed, who is visiting family in the port city of Alexandria with her two young daughters.Ahmed told CBC News she has been calling the Canadian Embassy in Cairo since Tuesday, but has heard nothing back. "I tried maybe three times, four times, [and] they did not reply to me," Ahmed said Monday morning. "I have three numbers. They are busy, or on the answering machine there is no space to leave a message."
SOCIAL MEDIA UPDATES
Follow the chaos in Egypt as it unfolds online. Calls by the CBC to a toll-free number established by Foreign Affairs also found that the voice mailbox was full; callers were unable to leave a message. Ahmed said the local television station has been broadcasting evacuation hotline numbers for American, Israeli, Saudi Arabian, Turkish and Iraqi citizens."But no presence of the Canadian in all of the channel," she said.
Opposition to hold Tories to account
Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Monday the government was "looking for options" to help evacuate Canadians from cities other than Cairo, such as Alexandria. "Individuals located outside of Cairo are advised not to try to make their way to Cairo for safety reasons," Cannon said in a press release. He was expected to hold a press conference about the evacuations at 11 a.m. ET. Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said his party would be "holding the government to account and making sure that they do absolutely everything to help Canadians" in Egypt.
Flights "have been slow getting there," Ignatieff said, before adding he didn't want to "play politics with this." "Let's work as Canadians to get Canadians to safety," he said. On Sunday, Cannon said Canada would organize chartered flights from Cairo to hubs in Paris, London and Frankfurt, where Canada has large consular staffs able to help the evacuees. Evacuees are to pay their own fares and will be responsible for their passage from Europe back to Canada, Cannon said.
Egypt has been in turmoil since Tuesday, when anti-government demonstrators began fierce protests calling for the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak.
Cannon said Sunday the flights would accommodate between 700 and 800 Canadians. At least 1,200 Canadians are registered at the Canadian Embassy in Cairo; there are an estimated 6,500 Canadians living in Egypt.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2011/01/31/egypt-canadian-evacuees.html?ref=rss#ixzz1CdIR3xi4
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