A special British charter from the Cairo International Airport prepares to leave Egypt for London as the situation in the country becomes exceedingly violent.
With the situation becoming more and more chaotic in Egypt, the Foreign Office (FCO) announced that it had now commissioned a second flight for Saturday.
"The plane will depart from Cairo on Saturday, and will supplement existing commercial services. We will provide further such flights as necessary," an FCO spokesperson was quoted as saying by news portals.
On Wednesday, a pack of pro-government supporters assaulted demonstrators in Tahrir Square in Cairo, making it the bloodiest day since the protest to remove President Hosni Mubarak from office started.
The development has triggered frenzy among the foreign tourists with number of them wanting to leave the country. Even foreign workers and diplomats are expected to follow the tourists in trying to get back to their home country.
"The situation in Cairo remains unpredictable, and the FCO advises all British nationals to leave the city unless they have a pressing reason to stay," a spokesperson was quoted by online resources.
"A large team remains on the ground, including significant specialist reinforcements sent in the course of the last week from London and other British Embassies in the region.
"Staff who are not immediately involved in responding to the crisis or helping British nationals are being temporarily removed in line with our travel advice," spokesperson further added.
On the ground reports suggest that British Government’s response, which was heavily criticised earlier at the start of the predicament, is now gaining momentum and is being carried out in a professional and vigorous way today.
The first flight that is scheduled to depart today from Cairo was sent by the British Foreign Office for those who may want to leave the crisis stricken country. The exact timing of the flight departure was undecided as airport operations in the city remain on tenterhooks in the midst of national protests.
Today,s chartered flight is expected to carry 180 Britons back to London from Cairo.
The 200-seat chartered flight, which left Gatwick on Wednesday, is for extra capacity to allow Britons to leave Egypt.
The Foreign Office was earlier quoted by online sources as stating, "Over 200 people have expressed an interest in the existing flight. We are keeping the possibility of a further charter flight under review."
FCO also said it did not want to undermine commercial airlines by offering a cheap flight and was charging £300 per ticket on the special flight. The government further advised people who have booked tickets on other flights to not cancel their bookings for this flight.
"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," a spokesman was quoted by different internet resources.
The FCO travel advice has remained the same since the weekend, with British nationals in the region being warned to abide by the curfew in place across Egypt.
Red Sea Resort of Sharm El Sheikh Remains Calm
Officials confirm that most of the Britons are in the Red Sea resort, where proceedings are more or less calm. They also advise holidaymakers to remain in close touch with tour operators and follow suggestions from security officials.
There are reportedly 20,000 British tourists in Egypt with majority of them in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, a major winter sun destination which is a favourite among Britons with cheap flights to the region easily available.
Tour operators have also confirmed that most of their customers are indeed in Sharm el-Sheikh.
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The safety of British nationals is paramount. The situation in Sharm el-Sheikh remains calm. We have an honorary consul and a team of consular staff in Sharm el-Sheikh who are monitoring the situation.
"Clearly, any change in the situation will be reflected in our travel advice and we will act accordingly," he stated.
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