Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 22 July 2020 to Questions 76098 and 76102 on India: coronavirus, how his Department determined the number of repatriation flights required to return UK residents from India without information on the number of UK residents requesting flights.

There is no requirement for residents to report their return to the UK via other means. However we estimate that many will have done so given the ability to travel on other services run by airlines, which have taken place since our last charter to India on 05 June. These include regular Air India "Vande Bharat" flights and, more recently, flights run by British Airways to the UK. The British government worked hard to ensure these flights could operate and is continuing to support other UK airlines resume their services, maximising options for UK residents who wish to return to the UK.