Shanghai-Bound Plane From Japan Reroutes In Air, Goes To Quarantined Wuhan

Shanghai-Bound Plane From Japan Reroutes in Air, Goes to Quarantined Wuhan

A Juneyao Airlines passenger plane going from Japan's Osaka to China's Shanghai and carrying Chinese passengers native to Wuhan, the province where the deadly coronavirus originated, has changed its flight trajectory upon entering China's airspace and headed to the now-quarantined Hubeian capital of Wuhan

BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th January, 2020) A Juneyao Airlines passenger plane going from Japan's Osaka to China's Shanghai and carrying Chinese passengers native to Wuhan, the province where the deadly coronavirus originated, has changed its flight trajectory upon entering China's airspace and headed to the now-quarantined Hubeian capital of Wuhan.

Since the Chinese authorities decided to close Wuhan amid the deadly virus spread, numerous residents who at the time of the shutdown were abroad began returning to China. For so long as the Wuhan airport remains closed, they cannot get home and have to fly to other Chinese cities.

The aircraft with 94 Hubei residents on board departed from Osaka at 7:55 p.m. (10:30 GMT) and was supposed to arrive in Shanghai, but the carrier apparently asked and was granted permission from the government to reroute once in China's airspace and head to Wuhan instead, claiming the epidemiological situation and passengers' requests to get them home.

Video footage from inside the plane shows passengers cheering and applauding as the pilot announces "The flight is headed to Wuhan, welcome home!"

The aircraft's 11 crew have reportedly agreed to serve the flight voluntarily, with masks and goggles on, and agreed to be placed under a two-week quarantine upon leaving Wuhan and getting to Shanghai.