ANOTHER 120 Europeans returned home after special flights were arranged by the Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific.
The flights chartered by the German Government boarded the passengers to Sydney before transiting to Doha and Frankfurt.
The flights were operated by Nauru Airlines from Tonga and Vanuatu on April 17 and Talofa Airways from Samoa and Air New-Zealand from Cook Islands on April 19.
These round of flights managed to board 9 Europeans from Samoa, 12 from Tonga, 39 from Vanuatu and 60 from the Cook islands.
EU Pacific Ambassador Sujiro Seam said his office was working hard to assist stranded Europeans in the Pacific and also facilitate delivery of relief efforts for Tropical Cyclone Harold.
“I am happy that a second round of repatriation flights from Tonga, Vanuatu, Samoa and Cook Islands allowed to uplift 120 more of them. I am also proud that my team was able to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian supplies from UNICEF to Port-Vila in response to Cyclone Harold, in combination with the repatriation operation in Vanuatu. We are now focusing on the next and probably final round of repatriation flights for Fiji, Solomon Islands and Palau,” Ambassador Seam said.
In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic Pacific countries like Cook islands, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu have suspended flights and closed their airports.
The first round of repatriation flights were from Fiji and Samoa on April 7, 8 and 13.
