Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In accordance with the decision of the Republican Special Commission, on 16-17 July, another charter flight of Uzbekistan Airways was organized on the route Tashkent-New York-Tashkent in order to ensure the return of Uzbek citizens who were temporarily staying on the territory of the United States and Canada and found themselves in a difficult situation in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, Dunyo reported.

According to the information of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Washington and the Consulate General of our country in New York, after the charter flights on 26 and 28 June, an additional 672 citizens of our country were included in the passenger waiting list, who were unable to take off on the first two flights. Of these, interns, students and tourists who were on a nonimmigrant visa in the host countries and accreditation for exchange programs, studies and visiting relatives, as well as compatriots who were unable to fly out on previous flights, were selected as a priority.

Only 257 citizens of Uzbekistan, including 8 newborns, flew to Uzbekistan on a special charter flight. At the same time, out of the total number of our fellow citizens who asked to take Uzbekistan home, 105 refused to take off on charter flights, instead of which citizens were included in the order of their appeal to our diplomatic missions.

During the coronavirus pandemic, through the efforts of our diplomatic missions in the United States, 788 citizens of our country were safely returned to Uzbekistan. Of these, 760 compatriots were taken out on charter flights of Uzbekistan Airways on the Tashkent-New York-Tashkent route and 28 people through the cities of Istanbul, Dubai, London and Seoul.

Currently, the waiting list of passengers is being replenished with new people wishing to fly to Tashkent, and their number today is more than 500 people who will be sent home on the next charter flights.

In this regard, the consular offices of Uzbekistan in Washington and New York strongly recommend that citizens staying in the United States, Canada and other states of the American continent on the basis of a residence permit and planning to travel to Uzbekistan in the coming months, to postpone them to a later date, until the situation with coronavirus normalizes. If this is not possible, citizens must contact the Embassy or Consulate General to be included in the list of passengers on the next charter flights from the United States to Uzbekistan. Contact details of consular officers are available on the websites of our diplomatic missions.