Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when he plans to provide emergency flights to repatriate British nationals that are stranded in Egypt as a result of covid-19.

As Parliament rose earlier than planned and the first day for answer of this PQ was after the Easter recess, due to the pace of developments during the COVID-19 crisis, I submitted a response by email on 27 March, with the following response. The Table Office have agreed this approach.

On 19 March, Egyptian authorities announced the suspension of international flights. The global response to the coronavirus is evolving fast, and travel restrictions may change. Our teams around the world are working urgently to ensure that governments have sensible plans to enable the return of British and other travellers, and, crucially, to keep borders open for a sufficient period of time to enable returns to take place on commercial flights, wherever possible.

The British Embassy Cairo is issuing updates on Facebook and on Twitter. Please follow social media for the latest available information on possible flight departures for British nationals needing to leave Egypt.