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77 Macao students stranded in London return home

24 December 2010 04:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Another 19 Macao students who were stranded at the London Heathrow Airport have flown back to Hong Kong and later returned to Macao on Thursday, the Tourism Crisis Management Office of Macao said, APA reports quoting Xinhua News Agency.

Heavy winter snows have stalled traffic in London as flights were canceled at the Heathrow Airport, leaving thousands of travelers stranded. The Tourism Crisis Management Office has got in touch with 143 stranded Macao students so far.

With assistance and coordination of the government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Cathay Pacific Airways, the second batch of 19 Macao students stranded in London boarded the second extra flight of Cathay Pacific, CX2252, which arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport this morning, and returned to Macao later Thursday, according to the Office.

Some 58 stranded students already returned to Macao via Hong Kong last night. In addition, 16 other stranded students with Cathay Pacific tickets have departed the UK on other flights of the airline. So far 93 of the 143 stranded students have left the UK.

Meanwhile, the Office assisted another 12 stranded students holding tickets of different airlines to travel on the third additional flight of Cathay Pacific, CX8250, which was expected to arrive in Hong Kong Friday.

Among the remaining 38 students who have registered with the Office, including holders of tickets of Cathay Pacific and other airlines, 32 have already departed the UK or have rebooked other flights with the help of their airlines, three students will make their own travel arrangements while three have decided to stay in the UK, according to the Office.

The Tourism Crisis Management Office also said that there were a total of 127 requests for assistance and 127 inquiries in the course of the past few days concerning the situation in London.