BRITISH Airways is facing accusations it is “profiteering from misery” as a Scottish family were charged £5000 for flights to Britain after fleeing Gaza.
Hannah Bardell, the SNP MP for Livingston, said a family of 13 who managed to escape the siege of Palestine had to fork out the hefty sum to return to the UK from Egypt.
According to British Airway’s website on Sunday, a flight from Cairo to Edinburgh the following day would cost at least £207.51.
More than 150 Britons have left Gaza through the Rafah crossing, according to a statement from Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell last week.
But those who make it to safety in Egypt then face expensive air fares to return to the UK, sparking calls to the Foreign Office to charter flights instead of relying on private companies.
In a letter to Foreign Secretary David Cameron seen by The National, Bardell (below) said that her constituents also faced additional costs of applying for a temporary Egyptian visa and accommodation.
The MP said the family she assisted in getting back to Scotland had been unaware of the Rafah crossing being opened due to communications blackouts and that had her office not been involved, “they would still be in Gaza now”.
She wrote: “I urge the UK government to review their evacuation programme and include greater financial assistance to help British nationals fleeing Gaza make it safely back to the UK.
“I would also ask that you raise, as a matter of urgency, why families are being charged upward of £800, as was the case of my constituent’s family, for commercial BA flights home.
“The sight of a British company profiteering from the misery of those fleeing conflict is utterly deplorable.
“Another reason why chartered flights should be a priority.”
In a statement, Bardell added: “This has been an exceptionally difficult and distressing time for my constituent and her family and regrettably, they have felt abandoned by the UK Government throughout.”
A number of countries, including the United States, chartered flights for their citizens to leave Israel after Hamas’s unprecedented attack on the country last month.
Hamas killed upwards of 1200 Israelis and captured around 240 hostages, according to Israel.
The response from Israel has been ferocious and concerns have been raised that its bombardment of Gaza has amounted to the collective punishment of Palestinians.
At time of writing, it is believed more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza.
British Airways and the Foreign Office were approached for comment.
