The Federal Foreign Office wants to send invoices for the corona return campaign. But it's not about covering the costs - what vacationers can expect.
- At the beginning of the Corona * crisis, many people residing in Germany were stuck elsewhere.
- As in Europe, the lockdown * began their regular return flights were from the holiday deleted.
- Hundreds of thousands of people were brought back - partly with funds from the Bundestag . Now part of the money is to be retrieved.
Berlin - The Federal Foreign Office has flown home around 240,000 people since mid-March - from all parts of the world. They were stuck during the rigorous corona lockdown period - in New Zealand, the United States, Mexico, and many other countries.
So far, those affected have not seen an invoice for how the ARD had reported. But that should change in the next few days and weeks.
Corona return campaign: Record campaign over six weeks
While German citizens were banned from entering * other countries, the crisis came as a complete surprise to many holidaymakers abroad: flights were canceled * , vacations with an uncertain outcome were forcibly extended. The happy ending for many: a return campaign, organized by the Federal Foreign Office in cooperation with the local diplomatic missions.
The return campaign started on March 17 - it continued until April 24, when a machine flew from Cape Town to Germany. The Federal Foreign Office had to rent machines for 66,000 of the 240,000 affected . As the ARD reports, travelers had to sign before starting the return flight that they are willing to pay the costs.
Corona Return Campaign: What Expected Travelers Can Expect Now
Only now is it possible to work slowly on the bills - travelers will receive bills in the next few weeks: "For this, flat rates will be set based on the distance traveled, comparable average ticket prices and the costs of comparable return campaigns from EU member states ," says Foreign Office. According to the ARD, the flat rates are likely to be in the three-digit euro range.
For the pre-financing of the flights, the Bundestag had made available 100 million euros to the federal government - now, thanks to collected own shares, some of it should flow back.
But it is not about covering the costs, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) recently clarified according to the ARD: It should be about justice - because other vacationers had to pay for their return flights themselves.
* Merkur.de is part of the Germany-wide Ippen-Digital editors network.
dpa / cat
