Closings at US airports strand CKS passengers

Airlines canceled 28 passenger flights and 11 cargo flights that were to depart from Taipei for the US and Canada Tuesday and yesterday, stranding thousands of passengers.

It was the first time that all US airports had been closed to civilian traffic, following the worst terrorist attack ever in the US overnight.

Taiwan's biggest carrier, China Airlines Co (華航), had to cancel five flights to North America on Wednesday due to the closure of airports in the US and Canada, said Chen Ming-hui (陳銘輝), a China Airlines manager at the CKS International Airport.

That included two flights out of Taiwan to Los Angeles, one to New York, one to San Francisco, one to Honolulu and one to Vancouver, Chen said. The company had a total of three others unable to fly in the US and Canada, he said.

China Airline spokesman, Charles Chen (陳玉治), said that the company was providing food and lodging for the stranded passengers, but rooms were quickly becoming scarce in the US.

EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) also canceled all flights yesterday to and from between Taiwan and the US and Canada. That includes two flights to Los Angeles, one flight to Seattle, one to San Francisco and one to Vancouver.

Yesterday's flight from New York to Taipei was halted in Anchorage, Alaska.