UK deportation flight with four onboard raises questions over viability

Jamaica charter costs equivalent of £50,000 per person, as Home Office hits out at legal challenges

The Home Office’s admission that only four people were deported to Jamaica on a flight in the early hours of Wednesday morning has raised questions about the continuing viability of such flights.

The Airbus A350-900, which can take up to 350 passengers, left Birmingham airport at 1.20am on Wednesday with four of an original list of more than 50 deportees onboard along with escorts and crew. The average cost of a Home Office deportation charter flight is £200,000, so the operation cost the equivalent of £50,000 a person. The numbers removed on the last four Jamaica charter flights have decreased steadily at 17, 13, seven and now four.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/3ommMmO