03/02/2011

Chartered Flight To Bring Britons Home

Over 180 people are gearing up to leave Egypt on a Foreign Office-chartered flight.

The flight, from Cairo to London, will depart on Thursday afternoon with a second flight being arranged for later in the week.

Departure times have not yet been confirmed due to disrupted airport operations amid the protests.

The second charter flight is currently scheduled to depart from Cairo this Saturday.

Prime Minister David Cameron has called for an end to the violence and for Egypt to embrace democracy.

The planned chartered flight, which left Gatwick around noon on Wednesday, can carry up to 220 people allowing for extra capacity.

Those travelling with booked seats on other flights are being advised not to cancel their current booking as the chartered flight is not intended to replace commercial flights.

The Foreign Office said it was chartering a second plane due to the "continuing fluidity and unpredictability of the situation".

On Wednesday, Downing Street defended the £300 ticket price and a spokesman said: "It's very important that we maintain commercial flights in and out of Egypt, so we don't want to be in a position where we are providing flights at no cost, because that would undercut commercial airlines.'

Britons in Egypt have also been warned to obey the local curfew between 1700 and 0800.

(BMcN)

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