UK spent tens of thousands of pounds to deport one migrant on charter flight, report says

The UK spent tens of thousands of pounds to charter a plane to deport one migrant, according to a report by The Telegraph, citing Home office data.

The report details millions of pounds spent by the British government on charter flights for deportations.

In the year to date, 74 charter flights have cost British taxpayers £13.8 million (around $19 million), including one passenger jet that carried one deportee.

The flight to France on January 7, carrying one deportee, cost taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds, according to the report. It was initially scheduled to carry several migrants but ultimately departed with only one, who reportedly had complex medical needs.

The other passengers were removed from the flight for undisclosed reasons. Sources told the newspaper that officials decided to proceed with the charter because it would otherwise have gone unused.

The 74 flights carried a total of 2,835 people, putting the average cost at around £186,000 per flight and nearly £5,000 per person. The figures do not include removals on regular commercial flights or the cost of security officers accompanying deportees.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp criticized the spending, saying the figures show that the system is “not running efficiently.”

“They should be getting far more migrants deported for this cost,” he said, adding that scheduled flights could be used “for a fraction of this cost.”

The Home Office defended its record, saying more than 80,000 people have been returned since July 2024. The latest government figures put the total at 80,286 by the end of July 2026, including both enforced and voluntary returns.

Britain has faced sustained illegal migration across the English Channel. Around 33,400 people arrived in small boats in the year ending June 2026, accounting for 88% of detected illegal arrivals, according to government figures. The number was down 23% from 43,309 in the previous 12-month period.

A YouGov poll published in August found that 69% of Britons believed immigration over the previous decade was too high, while 43% said it is mostly bad for the country, up from 33% in 2016.

Migration has remained a major political issue across Europe since the 2015 crisis, when more than 1 million refugees and migrants arrived on the continent, many fleeing conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

In July, around 72,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta without authorization, overwhelming local reception facilities and further fueling political debate over migration in Europe.