Foreign Secretary on assistance for British nationals in Libya
"We can confirm that we are currently assisting the majority of British Nationals at the airport to board a chartered plane that has become available in Tripoli."
Speaking about British nationals in Libya, the Foreign Secretary said:
“We continue to do all we can to assist British Nationals to leave Tripoli.
“We can confirm that we are currently assisting the majority of British Nationals at the airport to board a chartered plane that has become available in Tripoli. This is being facilitated by our team on the ground.
“In addition, we expect a number of additional planes to arrive in Tripoli overnight to allow the departure of all the remaining British nationals at the airport.
“We are also continuing actively to pursue action to assist the return of British Nationals elsewhere in Libya. Numerous FCO staff continue to work day and night to provide the best possible assistance to British Nationals in Libya.
“Lastly, given today’s difficulties with reliably chartering private planes, I will establish a review, directly reporting to ministers, into the FCO’s longstanding arrangements for aircraft evacuations. We need to know whether today was a coincidental series of unavoidable setbacks, or a systemic flaw.”
An FCO spokesperson said:
We can confirm that the FCO chartered flight to Tripoli, which was delayed earlier today due to a technical fault, has now departed from Gatwick airport.