Widespread social media claims that the UK Government is flying migrants directly into Liverpool Airport are categorically untrue, the ECHO can confirm. Reports and rumours have circulated in recent days and weeks, alleging that whistle-blowers and eyewitnesses have revealed migrants are being flown into Liverpool John Lennon Airport before being secretly placed onto coaches.
Right-wing accounts have been disseminating these reports without credible evidence, using a picture of an aircraft operated by Spanish airline Alba Star, which was spotted at the airport on September 9. Accounts including one called Patriot Network and another belonging to North Somerset Reform UK Councillor Stuart Davies have stated that an entire planeload of migrants disembarked from the aircraft and were then placed onto pre-prepared coaches and driven away.
Claims and the flight in question
The so-called eyewitness in these reports then refers to another group of migrants boarding the plane, all in handcuffs, reported to be Albanian nationals being deported. In his post, Cllr Davies wrote: "So WHY ON Earth is the British government flying migrants directly into the UK from ANOTHER safe country?"
The answer is, simply, they are not. The ECHO can confirm that there have been no incoming flights with migrants on board arriving in Liverpool whatsoever. The flight referred to and pictured in the social media posts was in fact a departing flight with only outbound passengers on it.
Flight data and deportation context
Flight data tracked by the ECHO shows that the Alba Star plane flew from Tarbes in France to Dublin and onto Liverpool on September 8. It then flew from Liverpool to Tirana, the capital of Albania, on September 9. The only grain of truth that may be present in the claims is that it does appear likely that this flight may have involved the transportation of Albanian nationals - but only regarding their transportation out of the UK, to Albania.
The UK Home Office operates regular returns and deportation flights to Albania under the bilateral readmission agreement and joint cooperation framework. These flights involve foreign national offenders from UK prisons, failed asylum seekers and individuals with no legal right to remain in the UK. Returns are carried out via a mix of enforced charter flights, scheduled commercial flights, and voluntary departure or facilitated return schemes. Records and reports indicate that the Alba Star airline is used for such flights.
