French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari has announced France has asked airlines to help bring back French citizens who are stuck in Morocco after the North African country halted flights because of the coronavirus, the ministry said.
Morocco suspended all international passenger flights on March 15 after it announced a flight ban on 30 countries.
The French consul in Morocco said France would not carry out its own repatriation as long as there was an option to fly on commercial airlines.
Scores of foreign tourists are waiting at Marrakech airport or seeking replacement air tickets. Other French citizens are stuck elsewhere in the North African kingdom.
Other flights will be sent to Agadir and Tangier to repatriate some 12,000 French nationals from Morocco, he added.
Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Twitter that there would be 40 flights from Morocco to France on Sunday, with more to follow in the coming days.
