Football fans stranded at Manchester Airport
21.05.08
A planeload of Manchester United fans finally took off from Manchester Airport last night after Russian aviation chiefs gave them an 11th hour green-light to land in Moscow, the Manchester Evening News reports. They were stranded at the airport for 8 hours yesterday, and their chances of reaching the final looked bleak, after it emerged the Air Slovakia Boeing 737 had no permission to touch-down in the Russian capital.
The Bratislava-based airline spent yesterday in talks to try to get through the red tape with the help of officials from the Department for Transport. The 148 supporters on the flight finally took off just before 15:00, long after thousands of other fans had already departed.
Flight GM7038 was preparing to take-off for Moscow's Domodedovo airport at 09:00 when it is understood they were told by airline bosses there was a problem. The disappointed passengers had been on board for 30 minutes when they were told permission to land had not been granted. They were taken back to the departure lounge while the airline tried to get permission from Russia.
A spokeswoman for Manchester Airport told the newspaper that the flight had been delayed because of a `paperwork issue' and said the airline worked swiftly to solve it. The Department for Transport confirmed it had been in talks with the airline and Russian aviation authorities to resolve the problem.
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