UK government to spend £75m on charter flights for stranded Britons
The government will subsidise airlines to bring home UK nationals stuck abroad in a £75m deal.
Travellers stuck in countries with no commercial flight options available will have charter flights made available “at little to no cost”, according to foreign secretary Dominic Raab.
Raab announced today that British Airways, Virgin, Easy Jet, Jet 2 and Titan Airways will be a part of the scheme and that more may join in the coming weeks.
The new deal also sees a guarantee from airlines that they will allow people with already booked tickets to change flights to another airline if their original flight is cancelled.
The foreign secretary said there was still hundreds of thousands UK nationals abroad, despite the Foreign Office’s call last week for all British tourists abroad to come home immediately.
“We’ve designated £75m pounds to support those flights and the airlines to keep costs down and keep it affordable for those seeking to come home to the UK,” Raab said.
“Our priority will be the most vulnerable, including the elderly, and in part looking at countries where we have large numbers of UK tourists struggling to get home.”
The new deal comes after the government already organised charter flights to bring UK citizens home from China, Japan, Cuba, Ghana, Tunisia and Peru.
In a statement, transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “This is a very difficult time for British Citizens travelling overseas, or those with families and loved ones abroad, which is why we are doing everything we can to ensure airlines can operate and bring people back home safely.”
Global aviation has ground to a halt thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
Countries across the world have closed their borders to new flights, putting many airlines at risk of going under.
Flybe was an early victim, going into administration at the start of this month after a bevy of flights were cancelled.
Many airlines and airports are seeking government assistance to stay solvent, however the UK will not be providing an aviation-only rescue package.
The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) general secretary Brian Sutton said he wanted to see assurances that airlines would not bear the cost of the £75m scheme announced by Raab.
“Our airlines are already struggling to cope financially and the Government’s promised financial support is yet to materialise,” he said.
“Will the Government be covering the cost of bringing people home or is it expecting the airlines to bear the brunt?”