17 October 2020 Government Press Secretariat.A press release has confirmed amendments to Samoa’s State of Emergency rules to allow five repartriation flights to bring citizens stranded overseas before Christmas.
“Cabinet has approved a schedule of repatriation flights for returning citizens from Europe, the United States etc. The schedule flights are tentatively planned from October 30th until 11th December…”
The flights have been scheduled between 30th October and 11th December 2020.
- 30th October 2020
- 13th November 2020
- 27th November 2020 (chartered flight from USA/Europe)
- 4th December 2020
- 11th December 2020
All flights are presumably coming in from New Zealand, with one chartered flight from Los Angeles to bring home Samoan citizens stranded across Europe, North and South America as well as Hawaii.
The government announcement confirms that there are more registered passengers for the LA flight than the capacity of the Air New Zealand BOEING 787 charter.
“The number of passengers registered for this flight is 378, which cannot be accommodated by one flight. Remaining passengers from this flight will travel to Samoa through New Zealand before the end of this year.
An Air New Zealand BOEING 787 with a seating of 302 passengers will be chartered for this special direct flight.
Criteria for chartered flight from Los Angeles:
- Chartered flight from Los Angeles to Samoa for Samoan citizens stranded in Europe, America (North and South) and Hawaii;
- All passengers travelling on the chartered flights are required to fund their own airfares.
- Any remaining passengers will need to travel through New Zealand on their way to Samoa;
Criteria for the scheduled chartered flights from Los Angeles:
The chartered flights directly from Los Angeles to Samoa to return our citizens home from various parts of Europe and USA flight from Los Angeles USA to avoid difficulties transiting through New Zealand due to visas and other immigration issues.
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