Romania Sends 1st Plane to Evacuate Citizens from Japan

The Romanian government decided on Friday to send a special flight to Japan to evacuate Romanian citizens there amid fears of nuclear leaks after last Friday's earthquake and tsunami.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the national air carrier TAROM dispatched on Friday afternoon a special flight for Japan to repatriate the Romanian nationals there who have specifically asked for help.

It is a charter flight "for at least part of the Romanians who asked the Embassy to help them leave Japan," said Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi earlier, adding that it would be an ad-hoc commercial flight organized for them.

At the same time, the ministry called on the families of the Romanian citizens who are in Japan now to send to their relatives the information about the meeting point at the Narita Airport of Tokyo, where they will have to show up for the check-in.

According to a press release of the ministry, the flight is scheduled to take off from the Narita Airport on Saturday afternoon.

The Romanian government decided to subsidize half of the airfare for this special commercial flight, while the Romanian nationals taking the flight will have to bear the other half. Children aged 1 year and below will travel free of charge.

This measure is part of the action plans to be carried out by the government for the safe repatriation of Romanian nationals who are in critical areas.

The Romanian government also arranged free evacuation services for the crisis in Libya.

Romania's Foreign Ministry issued a travel advisory on Monday, warning citizens against traveling to quake-hit Japan, and decided two days later to withdraw "non-essential staff" from its embassy in Tokyo.