Tokyo, May 26 (Jiji Press)–An extraordinary flight of Japan Airlines <9201> transporting Taiwanese people and others from Russia, which has been hit hard by the spread of the novel coronavirus, arrived at Narita International Airport near Tokyo on Tuesday morning.

Taiwan had asked JAL to operate the unscheduled flight for the rescue of people stranded in Moscow, because there are no regular flight services between Taiwan and Russia.

The flight, boarded by nearly 100 Taiwanese people, including students, and Japanese and Russian passengers, arrived at Narita around 11:30 a.m. (2:30 a.m. GMT) after leaving Moscow around 8:20 p.m. Monday local time.

Frank Hsieh, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan, welcomed the Taiwanese passengers at the arrival gate of the airport in Chiba Prefecture.

Hsieh said he is really grateful as they will be able to go back to Taiwan thanks to cooperation from JAL. A friend in need is a friend indeed, he said, adding that the JAL flight represented the friendship between Japan and Taiwan.

The Taiwanese people will head for Taipei on a JAL flight Tuesday afternoon.

At a press conference, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the flight was a good example of cooperation between Japan, Russia and Taiwan. The Japanese government offered support for the operation of the flight, Suga added.