The airline plans to resume a few weekly flights with four other countries, including France, from June 1. The precise details of how to take tickets were only published on Saturday evening. Documents circulating on social networks relayed false information.
More than 15 months of hiatus, which is about to end. The Algerian government announced a partial resumption of flights to and from four countries, including France, from June 1. Two flights to and from Paris, as well as one to Marseille, will be provided each week.
The modalities for entering Algeria will however be very restrictive, due to the Covid-19 epidemic. It will be necessary to have a negative result of the PCR test carried out in the 36 hours preceding the departure and to isolate oneself for five days on arrival. “The costs of stay in the accommodation sites are the sole responsibility of the passenger” and the latter must “first pay the costs inherent in sanitary confinement as well as the costs of the screening test”, after a press release posted on the website of the Algerian Embassy in France.
False documents published
It is in this context that a document, presented as an official statement from Air Algeria, has been circulating a lot on social networks since Friday. It reads in particular that each passenger will have to pay for a “Travel Pack” including the plane ticket, accommodation, and screening costs. For a single person, the costs – excluding plane tickets – would amount to 490 euros (350 euros for the five days of quarantine, 100 euros for two PCR tests, 30 euros for an antigen test at the end of the isolation, and 10 euros for transport from the airport to the hotel), or nearly 80,000 Algerian dinars. “But laughing, the travel pack + the ticket and my soul too”, annoys a user. “With the travel pack + the Air Algeria plane ticket you can go to the Bahamas in All-Inclusive for 2 weeks”, reacts another.
This document is actually a fake, at least it was not officially distributed by the company, indicates the latter to the Parisian, confirming information from the Visa-Algeria site. “We have not published any official statement for the moment,” we are assured. Another document lists the provisions governing the partial resumption of flights, but it does not come from Air Algeria either. These conditions were finally clarified this Saturday evening. The price of five nights, which also includes meals, is set at 41,000 Algerian dinars, or approximately 252 euros.
People living in France who wish to return to Algeria in the coming days will therefore have to pay well, and not just their plane ticket. Air Algeria will be responsible for recovering the entire sum, including hotel and test costs, as suggested by the director-general within the Ministry of Tourism, Moussa Ben Tamer, on the Echourouk News channel. This was, however, far from being acquired. “The national company Air Algeria is not intended to collect this kind of expenditure”, reported the daily El Watan Wednesday.
