UK government expands return flights for stranded British

LONDON, Apr 20 (APP):The Foreign & Commonwealth Office and The Rt Hon Dominic Raab
MP had announced that 7,000 more people would be able to get home
from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, after a further 31 charter flights
were announced by the UK Foreign Office.
The UK government has announced the following charter
flights to be operated from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
According to Foreign and Commonwealth office (FCO),
17 charter flights from India, which will run from April 20 to 27,
similarly 10 flights from Pakistan, will be running between April 21 to
27, while 4 from Bangladesh, which will run from April 21 to 27.
The FCO statement said that the UK has worked closely with
South Asian governments to keep commercial flight routes running
and airports open.
“It has already chartered 24 flights from the region to help
vulnerable British nationals return home in previous weeks”, the FCO
statement said.
The statement informed that the British Foreign Secretary,
Dominic Raab said:”We are working around the clock to get British
travellers home. Since the outbreak of coronavirus in Wuhan,
we’ve helped more than a million British citizens return home
on commercial flights – backed up by our work with the airlines
and foreign governments to keep flights running”.

“Our special charter deal with the airlines has enabled us
to return thousands more. Now, I can announce the next 31 flights
from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh which will get 7,000
more Brits safely back home”, he remarked.

The addition of 31 flights will mean the UK government has
facilitated the return of more than 10,000 British travellers on
55 flights from the region since the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis
began.
“Around 5,000 British nationals will have returned to the UK
from India between 8 to 19 April on 21 UK charter flights from 11
Indian cities.
The 17 extra flights from India announced on Friday will be
able to carry around 4,000 passengers, and bring the total number
chartered by the UK government from India to 38.
The flights from Pakistan will bring around 2,500 people home.
More than 8,000 British nationals returned to the UK between 4 to 16
April, via 23 commercial flights, following extensive cooperation
between the UK and Pakistan
The statement further said that the 4 flights from Bangladesh
will have the capacity to bring home up to 850 passengers 3 charter
flights from Nepal have also returned more than 700 passengers to
the UK.
The FCO statement said that the UK government was working
with the airline industry and host governments across the world
to help bring back British travellers to the UK as part of the
plan announced by the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab on March 30-
with up to £75 million available for special charter flights
from priority countries, focused on helping the most vulnerable
travellers.