Tuesday, April 20, 2010

MOFA maintains efforts to assist Taiwanese stranded in Europe

Taipei, April 20 (CNA) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Tuesday that it is still trying to offer help to Taiwanese travelers stranded in Europe five days after air traffic over Europe came to a standstill.

Giant clouds of ash spewing from an erupting volcano in Iceland has drifted over large swathes of Europe, rendering flying hazardous.

European Union transport ministers have held an extraordinary meeting via video conference and have agreed on a "progressive and coordinated" reopening of European airspace with full guarantees of safety.

According to a MOFA press release, staff of its 26 representative offices based in European countries have been assisting stranded Taiwanese round the clock over the last five days and have offered help to more than 900 people.

Those who run out of money in Europe as a result of the chaos will be granted an emergency loan of US$500, the press release said, adding that the MOFA is also coordinating an emergency evacuation plan that will arrange flights to transport elderly citizens, children and those in need of medical services back to Taiwan once flights resume.

According to the EU website, the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) has divided the airspace into three zones based on the volcanic ash content.

Eurocontrol explained that the first of these zones is the region beneath the volcanic plume, where there is still a strict no-fly zone, such as London and Amsterdam. The second zone, which includes Vienna, covers an area where ash might be present but in which operations will be coordinated by the authorities of member states. The third zone is the area unaffected by the ash and in which there are no flight restrictions, such as Rome.

Eurocontrol was expecting 40 percent to 45 percent of flights in European airspace to resume Wednesday compared to 30 percent Tuesday. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J