The Latvian government has decided to sell tickets for an evacuation flight from the war-torn Middle East. One ticket for a rescued Latvian will cost 350 euros.
The plane has a total of 145 seats. Thus, the revenue will amount to 50,750 euros. How appropriate is it to charge money from people in distress?
Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa explained the desire to profit from the evacuated:
– Last year, passengers evacuated from Israel were not required to pay extra, but many simply did not show up for the flight at the scheduled time, depriving those who wanted to leave but could not because others had registered earlier. But they never showed up.
Moreover, Siliņa justifies, Latvia is not alone in this. Estonia also charges passengers being evacuated from the Middle East. By the way, the rates there are higher – each Estonian must pay 400 euros, plus 50 euros for transfer.
As reported by bb.lv, the flight BT7701 is currently expected to be operated on Friday: departure from Dubai International Airport at 17:50 local time (13:50 Latvian time).
The flight to Riga is planned with a technical stop in Heraklion (Greece), and the plane is expected to arrive in Riga on Saturday, March 7, at 14:10 local time.
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