News > Ash Cloud Rescue Operations

Published 04 May 2010

Bakers Coaches mobilised to repatriate stranded tourists

Bakers were among hundreds of British coach operators that mobilised for a pan-European transfer of passengers stranded by the ash cloud and subsequent temporary airspace closures. It all began on the 20th March following the volcanic eruption beneath a glacier in Iceland.

Bakers Coaches received a number of calls from tour organisers and schools looking for a North West based coaching firm able to meet specific requirements.

“Our first call came from a party of Dutch students returning to the Netherlands from Ireland,” explains Phil Baker of Bakers Coaches. “They were collected from the ferry terminal at Holyhead and delivered to Hull for the North Sea crossing to Rotterdam.”

Next came a party of French students who were returning to Marmanche near Bordeaux from Sandbach, Cheshire after a high school exchange programme. While on the continent the Bakers coach was then sent across France to the ski resort of Serre Chevalier to repatriate stranded airline passengers to the UK.

An additional coach also made the journey to Serre Chevalier to collect passengers bound for Manchester and a third coach travelled to Turin to collect holiday makers returning from Italy. Other work included the transfer of British tourists who were returning to the Greater Manchester area via the channel crossing at Calais.

Plans were underway to take some Spanish students returning from Cheshire to Malaga when it was announced that normal air services were to resume after six days of disruption.

Dave Machin, Operations Manager comments “It’s been hard work sorting out all the logistics and we don’t take any pleasure in picking up work from situations like this, but if someone asks us to do a job we do it.”

Phil concludes by saying. “We were happy to play a part in helping airline passengers to complete their journeys in a stress free and comfortable environment, offered by the modern day coach, ensuring that everyone reached their final destinations safely with minimal disruptions".

Issued by Mike Ottewell
MJO PR for Bakers Coaches
Tel: 01538 361217