Britain working with Spain to get people back home
London and Madrid are working on ideas to fly Britons stranded by the volcanic ash cloud to a Spanish hub and then sailing them back home, officials said.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Spanish counterpart Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero held telephone talks after top British ministers and scientists met to discuss the crisis at Downing Street, Brown’s office said.
The premiers reached a deal to allow flights bound for Britain from outside Europe to land in Spain, Spanish radio reported. British airspace is closed until 1800 GMT Monday at the earliest.
A Downing Street spokesman said that they had agreed that the UK and Spain would work together to look at how the capacity in Spain which remains open to flights can be used to help get British people stranded abroad back to the UK.
Prime Minister Zapatero said that he would help in any way he can.
Following their meeting, British ministers said everything was being done to try to help stranded nationals. Travel association ABTA said roughly 150,000 people had not been able to return home due to the airspace closure.
Options include the possibility of deploying Royal Navy vessels to collect passengers, said security minister Alan West, a former head of the navy. He commented that as far as the Royal Navy goes obviously we are finding exactly what ships are available, what would be able to move, what’s the best port to go to.
Peter Mandelson, Brown’s de facto deputy, added: “We need to look at every single logistical option for getting our people back home.”
Spanish public radio RNE, citing government sources, said the deal would allow passengers bound for Britain from Asia, Latin America and North America to fly to Spain and from there travel either overland or by ferry.
Spain stepped in because some Spanish airports are not affected by the ash cloud from Iceland. Spanish transport minister, Jose Blanco has told reporters that Spain is offering the use of some Spanish airports as a intercontinental platform.
But much of the rest of Europe remained a virtual no-fly zone on Sunday, with about 30 countries closing or restricting airspace amid safety fears over the sulfurous dust coming from an Icelandic volcano.
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