Press release

UK government announces 3 more charter flights to Nigeria for British travellers

Further special charter flights from Nigeria will return British travellers to the UK.

From:
Foreign & Commonwealth Office and James Duddridge
Published
23 May 2020
This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Hundreds more British travellers are set to return home from Nigeria on three flights chartered by the UK Government.

More than 1,700 British travellers have already returned to the UK on special charter flights in April and May - from Lagos and Abuja.

Details of the new flights are:

  • Friday 29 May: Lagos to London
  • Monday 1 June: Lagos to London
  • Saturday 6 June: Abuja to London

There will be a separate internal charter flight from Port Harcourt to Abuja, to collect British travellers for the Abuja flight on 6 June.

Minister of State for Africa, James Duddridge, said:

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

Catriona Laing, the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, said:

I am delighted to announce a third wave of flights to take our British travellers home from Nigeria – on top of 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.

Background

For further information and to book a ticket, British travellers should visit the Nigeria travel advice Return to the UK pages.

The UK government is 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 30 March - with up to £75 million available for special charter flights to priority countries, focused on helping the most vulnerable travellers.

So far, charter flights have returned British travellers from countries including India, the Philippines, Ecuador, Bolivia, Nepal, Ghana, Tunisia, Algeria and Peru.

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Published 23 May 2020

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