AMMAN (Jordan Times) –– Royal Jordanian (RJ) will start today airlifting Jordanians who are trapped in Cairo and Alexandria and cannot afford tickets to fly back home at the expense of His Majesty King Abdullah, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Monday.

RJ has increased the number of its flights between Amman and Cairo from four daily flights to six, using aircraft with greater capacity to facilitate the return of Jordanians to the Kingdom as soon as possible.

Speaking to The Jordan Times from Cairo on Sunday, Ambassador to Egypt Hani Mulki, who was at the airport to facilitate the return of Jordanians home, said that many Jordanians were arriving at the airport without having booked a flight or any money on them.

RJ called on citizens who are currently in Egypt and wishing to go back home to head to the Cairo International Airport even if they do not possess tickets.

Royal Jordanian underlined that its employees at the Cairo airport were cooperating with the Jordanian embassy to ensure the safe return of citizens, who were caught up in political and security turmoil in the largest Arab nation.

Some 8,000 Jordanians live in Egypt, including university students and businesspeople, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mohammad Kayed told The Jordan Times earlier this week.

From Saturday to Monday afternoon, RJ carried around 2,700 Jordanians from different Egyptian airports, Petra said.

According to the ambassador, there are nearly 1,500 Jordanian students in Egypt and the majority wanted to leave although they did not finish their university exams.

www.jordantimes.com