Hundreds of passengers were stranded in Gambia on Monday after the West African country banned flights from countries linked to an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.
Scores of passengers arriving at Banjul International Airport were left confused and desperate after being told about the ban on flights to and from Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
“It is really terrible for us as we have an important mission to run in Sierra Leone, but we were later told that there is no flight. But the authorities are right since it is not safe,” one passenger said.
Gambia Bird Airlines chief executive Thomas Wazinski said he was notified of the ban by the Ministry of Communication Infrastructure and Information as “an outbreak of Ebola has reached Guinea’s capital Conakry after spreading from southern Guinea.”
“We are sorry to announce that our plans to launch new services from Dakar (in Senegal) and Bissau (in Guinea Bissau) to Conakry have been postponed following the spread of the Ebola virus to the city,” Wazinski said.
Bird Airlines — a major provider of flights to West African countries — said it would refund passengers who had booked flights to Conakry.
Last week, two Gambians from Conakry were intercepted at the Gambia-Senegal border on suspicion of carrying the virus but were later cleared and released.
An emergency team from Gambia’s Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has been on high alert over travellers entering the country along its borders.
