Austria’s plans to evacuate its citizens from Israel have been thwarted after its military aircraft broke down.
The only available C-130 Hercules was due to take Austrians to Cyprus earlier today but suffered a technical failure.
“A black day for the armed forces: We could not help our compatriots,” defence ministry spokesman Michael Bauer said on X.
As a result, the country was forced to book 100 seats on a commercial flight instead.
After the Israir flight landed in Cyprus, the foreign ministry said it had evacuated 98 people.
In total, 15 were from countries other than Austria: Israel, Germany, Spain, Hungary, the United States and the Netherlands.
Another evacuation, on a chartered Austrian Airlines flight to Vienna from Tel Aviv will take place tomorrow, it added.