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Rescue flights for stranded Britons Coronavirus: Foreign Office links up with airlines to fly stranded Britons home
(32 minutes later)
UK government announces new plan to fly home tens of thousands of Britons stranded by coronavirus pandemic Tens of thousands of Britons stranded abroad by the coronavirus pandemic will be flown home under a new arrangement between the government and airlines.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. British Airways, Virgin, EasyJet, Jet2 and Titan are among airlines that have agreed to fly Britons back to the UK.
You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts. The government has also pledged £75m to charter special flights to bring home UK nationals from countries where commercial flights are unavailable.
The number of people who have died with the virus in the UK has reached 1,408.
Speaking at the government's daily coronavirus briefing, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said an "unprecedented" number of UK travellers were trying to get home.
"We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people travelling around the world," he said.
Mr Raab added: "Hundreds of thousands have already done so, but many travellers haven't yet managed to get back home - from young backpackers to retired couples on cruises."