Belgians Stranded as Morocco Suspends Flights Over Omicron Concerns

Morocco closed its airspace for two weeks on Monday, thus blocking many Belgian nationals on its territory, particularly in Marrakech and Casablanca. Karim, on vacation in Morocco with his wife and their young son, can no longer return to Belgium as he was supposed to board his return flight this Tuesday, reports RTL. "We were only informed by social networks that Morocco was going to close its borders. On November 29, around 1, 2 p.m., my flight was canceled. As soon as I learned the information, I went online, but there were no more flights, everything was full," he recounts.

To read: Morocco Suspends Flights: Belgian Nationals Urged to Leave Before Deadline

Karim and his wife are worried. They don’t know how long this situation will last, while they have left their 10-year-old son with his grandparents to go to school. "We may have to stay 14 days, maybe more if the Moroccan authorities extend the period, I don’t know. We are not receiving any information. My wife and I work, we have loans to pay. I have almost no more leave left. I have 4, 5 days left, so that means that after that, I’m no longer paid," explains Karim.

To read: Belgium Tightens Travel Restrictions for Unvaccinated Visitors from Morocco and Other Red-Zone Countries

The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has invited all stranded travelers in Morocco to register on Travellers Online. Already 690 people have registered on the site after this announcement. Karim is one of them. He hopes to be repatriated with his family via special flights to Belgium. "Commercial flights are still planned and people are encouraged to contact their airline to see what options are available in the context of these flights in the coming days," said Marie Cherchari, spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs. All these flights are "already full," laments Karim, who fears the worst.