Rwanda state airline turns down offer from UK government to operate removals ... trends now
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Rwanda's state airline turned down an offer from the UK Government to operate removals flights for migrants as part of the new asylum deal.
The east African nation's flag carrier, RwandAir, was approached by British ministers last year to operate flights carrying irregular migrants from the UK.
But the airline, which is wholly-owned by the Rwandan government, declined to take part because of potential damage to their 'brand'.
However, their refusal - first reported by the Financial Times - is not believed to have caused any damage to the scheme's implementation.
It is understood the Home Office is poised to announce details of the removals flights - involving more than one operator - when new asylum legislation completes its passage through Parliament.
Rwanda 's state airline RwandAir has turned down an offer from the UK Government to operate removals flights for migrants as part of the new asylum deal
Rishi Sunak welcoming President of Rwanda Paul Kagame outside No 10 during a visit to London yesterday
The Safety of Rwanda Bill, which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak believes will overcome legal obstacles and get flights off the ground, is widely expected to win final approval next week.
The Ministry of Defence will be a 'close partner' in the Rwanda asylum programme, the Mail can disclose, raising the prospect of migrants being deported aboard military jets.
If agreements with commercial operators fall through unexpectedly the MoD will be on stand-by to fly migrants to Kigali aboard government-owned aircraft, it is thought.
'We cannot be specific at this stage who we are working with but the MoD is a close partner,' a Home Office spokesman said.
'When it comes to
