FORT LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, FLA. (WSVN) - Nearly 300 Americans who were out of the country finally were able to come home after weeks of waiting.
Wednesday morning, people crowded Fort-Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport hoping to catch flights.
Spirit Airlines is picking up passengers in Colombia trying to return to the United States.
“We had to take a taxi from Armenia, Colombia for 10 hours, to be able to get to the Bogota airport, to be able to get on this humanitarian flight,” one passenger said.
“We felt caught at the borders,” another said.
One man near a jetway said, “I figured I was stuck there indefinitely.”
One passenger returning from The Caribbean said, “Oh, it’s been a journey.”
In March, the State Department warned Americans abroad to return home as soon as possible before airlines cut service to certain countries.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “We can’t guarantee the U.S. government’s ability to arrange charter flights indefinitely where commercial options no longer exist. Americans abroad who wish to return home should do so immediately.”
Spirit Airlines brought Americans home from Panama City over the weekend.
Ted Steliga, who was traveling from Aruba, said, “Our flight was going to be delayed a few days, on JetBlue, but then JetBlue cancelled altogether. Then we booked the flight on Spirit, and they canceled, and then we were stuck.”
Chris Agate traveled from Colombia. He said, “It was hard, I had a few flights cancelled. I would’ve come here earlier, but everything cancelled. Then you register at the embassy and you get updates, and as soon as that Spirit airline comes on, you book immediately.”
“A little concern at first just for a family member here adjusting. I knew that we’d be fine,” Erin Steliga, who also traveled from Colombia said.
Spirit Airlines said they have several more flights scheduled for the rest of the month.
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