Brits will stay stranded abroad if they miss final wave of repatriation flights

Britons stranded abroad will be charged up to £1,000 a head to get seats on new wave of repatriation flights

  • Foreign Office revealed details of repatriation flights for India and South Africa 
  • Thousands of Britons are still struggling to get home after travel restrictions 
  • British ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce has warned Brits to get home

Britons stranded abroad will be charged up to £1,000 a head to get seats as a new wave of repatriation flights are announced. 

Hundreds of thousands of Brits are struggling to get back home due to severe travel restrictions imposed to try and stem the coronavirus pandemic.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office FCO) has revealed details of further flights to bring tourists back from India, Nepal, the Philippines and South Africa. 

British ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce issued a video message warning that ‘there are no plans for further British Government flights’.

He said: ‘Everyone, please don’t miss this opportunity. Something better will not come along.

British ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce issued a video message warning that ‘there are no plans for further British Government flights’

‘We’ve mobilised our resources to help get you home. We now need you to mobilise yourselves. This is your last chance.’ 

The FCO last week launched a £75 million operation to charter flights from destinations where commercial routes have been severed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However some people have criticised the steep prices to get them back into the country.

Stuart Wallace, 56, is currently trapped in South Africa, after visiting his family on March 15, and has slammed the high prices to return home.

The IT consultant, who lives in London, received a message today notifying him about the new flights.

He told MailOnline: ‘855 pounds from Cape Town one way is way above what you would normally pay even at peak times, where as the German and Swiss repatriation flights were free!

‘So much for the £75million – where has that gone then?

‘As far as i’m concerned, they can stick it up their back**** and I will chance it for when they open up the SA airways.’ 

Two flights will operate from the Philippines to Heathrow on Tuesday, but tickets cost £1,000 per person.

The flights have been chartered by the FCO and are being operated by Philippine Airlines. 

British Ambassador to Peru tweeted last week about the repatriation flights that have already been to Peru and brought stranded Brits home

British Ambassador to Peru tweeted last week about the repatriation flights that have already been to Peru and brought stranded Brits home

The first rescue flight from Nepal will operate on Wednesday, with a second on Friday. Tickets will cost £800 per person.

Other prices for upcoming rescue flights include £855 from South Africa and £681 from India.

Some of the Government’s first long-haul coronavirus rescue flights, which brought people home from Peru, cost just £250 per person.

The FCO has said the cost of the flights will be shared between passengers and taxpayers.

Chartering flights for single journeys is often more expensive than commercial operations because the aircraft are often empty on one of the legs and the deployment of staff is not as efficient.

The FCO said on Saturday that only around 1,450 British travellers had flown home on its chartered flights since the scheme was announced on March 30.

In contrast, Air France has operated more than 200 flights to repatriate French nationals from 82 countries since March 14.

The German government said it has ‘actively carried out repatriations in 56 countries’, bringing back tens of thousands of German nationals.

 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk