British Airways on Friday evacuated 316 citizens of the United Kingdom (U.K) from Nigeria. The aircraft with registration mark BAW 9156 departed at 4:46 pm with 21 crew onboard.
The 316 passengers are part of the 900 British travellers were set to return home on three flights chartered by the UK Government, but got stranded in Nigeria.
Last week, the British High Commission in Nigeria disclosed that it had made arrangements for additional flights that would bring 900 people back to the UK from Nigeria on Government charter flights to around 2,000, following flights arranged two weeks back from Lagos and Abuja to London.
It had disclosed details of the new flights as follows: Tuesday 28 April: Abuja – London, Friday 1 May: Lagos – London and Tuesday 5 May: Lagos – London.
The additional charter flights have been arranged for British travellers, and their dependents, whose primary residence is the UK. Priority is given to the most vulnerable travellers, for example, people with health conditions.
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In response, James Duddridge, minister of state for Africa said “Our next phase of UK Government charter flights will mean another 900 British travellers are able to return home from Nigeria. We appreciate this has been a difficult time and will continue to work closely with the Nigerian authorities to support those wishing to return to the UK.”
Catriona Laing, British High Commissioner to Nigeria said: “I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has helped us put this together. First of all, to the Government of Nigeria for their sterling support throughout the process, secondly to everyone at the airport, all the staff including the amazing British Airways team, and finally my own team who have worked tirelessly to make this possible and who continue to work hard to get British travellers back home to their loved ones”.
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