More than 10,000 Finns stranded abroad are looking for new routes by land

Ridiculous prices demanded for travel home as gougers cash in

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"The most outrageous cheating" was how stranded Finnish tourists described the situation on the Costa del Sol in Southern Spain on Tuesday. There were return journeys available, but only at swingeing rates.
     
Hundreds of desperate Finns were calling their friends and the Embassy of Finland in Madrid asking about return routes as airspace remained closed and airports deserted.
      Hiring a bus that normally costs a few thousand euros is now worth EUR 8,000 to 20,000. If the stranded tourists wanted to rent a mini-bus they should fork out EUR 4,000.
      ”The fact that bus operators have been cheating people by raising their prices has caused controversy”, reports a hoarse-voiced Leena Toivonen of Finland’s Embassy in Madrid.
      After conducting a 12-hour telephone marathon in the ongoing ashcapades show, Toivonen could barely get out much more than a wheeze.
      ”We receive hundreds of phone calls every day, while the number of stranded Finns is at least 1,000”, Toivonen explains.
     
The total of Finnish travellers who have remained stuck abroad is roughly 10,000.
      The figure is just an estimate: some 6,000 Finns are being taken care of by travel organisers, and in addition, some thousands of Finns are estimated to be travelling independently.
      The Ministry for Foreign Affairs has asked the Finnish embassies and missions abroad to canvass the number of stranded Finns.
      Getting buses on the move has been problematic all over Southern Europe. Only a few buses have managed to set off from Malaga, Madrid, and Barcelona.
      ”All buses are busy in Central Europe. Two days ago, I began to phone everywhere without a break in order to arrange at least one vehicle for the embassy, as a large group of people is waiting for departure in its premises”, says Rauno Kauppinen, a transport entrepreneur in Malaga.
     
The most urgent question in Fuengirola, a popular holiday resort among Finns on the Costa del Sol, was what would be the pecking order when flights do eventually take off.
      ”We heard from a representative of Finnair that the first to fly will be those who should have left by a plane that failed to take off on Thursday evening, says Taina Suutarinen, the owner of Meriatur, a Finnish travel agency on the Costa del Sol.
      Not every holiday-maker is able to arrange an independent train or bus trip, as some of the stranded Finns are inexperienced travellers and elderly people, according to Suutarinen.
      ”Many people’s language skills are simply not sufficient to go on an adventurous trip across Europe. They would not be able to change buses on their own”, Suutarinen adds.
      Riitta and Harri Kevari from Vaasa and their friends Riitta and Esa Ranne from Laihia near Vaasa have snagged themselves a bus trip to Tallinn.
      The coach is to leave on Wednesday morning.
      Interpreter Timo Kuisma organised the trip with a Spanish transport company. It will cost EUR 330 per passenger.
      The rate for the bus seating 50 persons is EUR 15,500.
      ”I started calling around yesterday. I asked whom I could contact and found Kuisma. I am now spreading the word to everyone I know here”, notes Riitta Kevari.
     
Riitta and Esa Ranne were among those who were the first to face the fact that the cloud of ash was going to prevent their flight from ever taking to the air.
      They should have left for Finland already on Thursday of last week.
      ”We heard from Finnair only 30 minutes prior to the departure of our flight that we were not going anywhere”, Riitta Ranne declares.
      The Rannes had believed that they would manage to make their one-week holiday trip with a total sum of EUR 2,000.
      The Kevaris’ initial travel budget was around EUR 3,000.
     
Active Finns have made use of the website Espanja.com in order to spread information about possibilities to arrange a trip home.
      The Ministry for Foreign Affairs reminds Finnish tourists that those who have been stranded because of a lack of return flights are responsible for their residence permits themselves.
      If a visa or a residence permit is close to its expiry date, the tourist himself or herself will have to take care of its extension.

More on this subject:
 Visas of hundreds of foreigners expiring

Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finnish government preparing for crisis readiness over air traffic chaos (19.4.2010)
  Finnish airspace opened briefly on Monday (20.4.2010)

See also:
  Government: air safety takes top priority (20.4.2010)

Links:
  Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland

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