Hundreds of Chinese travelers stranded in Europe due to flight ban

Hundreds of Chinese travelers have been stranded in airports of European cities due to flight cancellations amid the ash cloud following the volcanic eruption in Iceland, officials from the Chinese embassies said.

With the help of embassy officials in Germany and Austria, at least 151 of these passengers were allowed to enter these two countries and find accommodation, officials told Xinhua Saturday.

After the German government decided to ease visa restrictions for stranded travelers Saturday, about 100 Chinese travelers were allowed into the country from Frankfurt airport.

These travelers, mostly destined to South America, are now staying in hotels near the airport with the full cost of their accommodation being paid by air companies, said an official from the Chinese Consulate in Frankfurt.

In Austria, embassy officials helped about 51 Chinese citizens get visa to enter the country Saturday, including one child. Thirty of them have now taken the train to head to their destinations, an official from the Chinese embassy in Vienna said.

Thousands of passengers are now being stranded in Europe and other parts of the world, as some European countries announced Saturday to extend their air travel bans into next week and carriers in other countries canceled their flights to Europe.

The International Civil Aviation Organization warned Saturday that the disruption caused by the ash cloud from the volcanic eruption under Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier exceeded that of the airspace shutdown after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

The volcano started to spew thick clouds of black and brown ash into the air on Wednesday.

The volcano first erupted last month, which lasted for three weeks. But that eruption was much weaker compared with the current one.

Source: Xinhua