Morocco has cleared the way for holidaymakers stranded by the ban on flights to the Netherlands to be brought back, the foreign affairs ministry has said.

The ban was brought in at midnight on Wednesday as an anti-coronavirus measure, but several thousand Dutch nationals are in Morocco at the moment, partly due to the half term holidays.

‘Morocco has showed itself willing to allow a number of commercial flights to bring Dutch nationals home in the short term,’ the ministry said. It is unclear when the flights will start.

Airline Transavia estimates it has some 3,500 passengers in Morocco. Tour operators have several hundred.