The Secretary of State for Communities, Emídio Sousa, is present to receive the repatriated citizens, who travelled from Oman, as reported.

On this military flight, there are 39 passengers: 24 Portuguese and 15 foreigners (France, Greece, Brazil, and Israel).

The Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence announced on Thursday that a repatriation operation is underway for 186 people, almost all Portuguese, with arrival scheduled for today.

According to a joint statement from the two ministries, the operation involves a C130 aircraft from the Portuguese Air Force and an A330 aircraft chartered from TAP Air Portugal.

The chartered flight carries 147 passengers, of whom 139 are Portuguese, and 8 are foreigners (from Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Peru), with an expected arrival time of 10 am, according to Now.

The "missions and security plan " was requested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the Ministry of National Defence, the statement said.

Portugal has activated the European Civil Protection Mechanism to organise the repatriation of Portuguese citizens in the Middle East, a spokesperson for the European Commission told the Lusa news agency.

According to European sources speaking to Lusa, Portugal requested that a repatriation flight be organised, offering seats on that flight to other member states.