Britain has arranged the third and final special charter flights to evacuate its citizens who were on a short stay visit to Nigeria and wish to return home.
The British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Ms. Catriona Laing, who announced this in a release on Sunday, said Lagos-London flights are slated for May 29 and June 1 while the Abuja-London flight is scheduled for June 6.
She explained that UK organised special internal charter flight will travel from Port Harcourt to Abuja on Saturday 6 June to enable British nationals based in, or near, Port Harcourt to join the 6 June flight from Abuja to London.
“I am delighted to announce a third wave of flights to take more of our British travellers home from Nigeria – adding to the 1,700 people we’ve already helped since airports closed on 23 April.
“If you are eligible and wish to return to the UK, I’d urge you to book seats on these flights as they are likely to be the last charter flights available,” she said.
She added that “these third wave of flights are the final special charter flights that the UK will be arranging to repatriate British travellers from Nigeria.
The high commissioner further said the UK government was working with the airline industry and host governments across the world to bring British travellers home 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 to priority countries, focused on helping the most vulnerable travellers.
So far, she said charter flights had returned British travellers from countries including India, the Philippines, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nepal, Ghana, Tunisia, Algeria and Peru.
The statement also quoted the British minister of state for Africa, James Duddridge as saying: “Brits in Nigeria will now have access to additional repatriation flights, meaning hundreds more will be able to fly home.
“We’ve already arranged for around 1,700 people to return home to their friends and family and continue to support British nationals who remain in the country.”
