Two repatriation flights carrying British passengers from Peru have landed at Heathrow Airport.

The flights were carrying just under 500 passengers in total – with around 330 of them British nationals.

Two more flights will leave Peru today and arrive in the UK on Tuesday.

It is understood that the flights will carry another 500 passengers or so on two British chartered BA planes.

Jon Benjamin, a senior diplomat helping with the repatriation effort, tweeted: “Our latest BA flight chartered to bring home Brits from #Peru has just landed at LHR. Two more BA flights leave Lima this evening UK time”.

British nationals are still stranded in Peru, however, with some at a hostel where guests have tested positive for coronavirus and no one being allowed to leave.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We recognise British tourists abroad are finding it difficult to return to the UK because of the unprecedented international travel and domestic restrictions that are being introduced around the world – often with very little or no notice.

“The FCO is working around the clock to support British travellers in this situation to allow them to come back to the UK.”

He added that the government is seeking to keep key transit routes open as long as possible and is in touch with international partners and the airline industry “to make this happen”.

“Consular staff are supporting those with urgent need while providing travel advice and support to those still abroad,” the spokesman said.

On Thursday, Sky News reported that four young British women feared being forced to stay locked down in a hostel in Peru for up to three months after two fellow residents tested positive for COVID-19.

The group from London and Kent, who remain in the hostel, said they are not allowed to leave their dormitory except for meals and to go to the bathroom under strict quarantine rules.

They were imposed by the Peruvian authorities on Wednesday just as the first UK rescue flight was due to travel to Peru to transport some 200 other stranded British travellers home.

“Pretty much everyone in this hostel will get coronavirus,” Sabina Gordon, 22, told Sky News. “We are just in a COVID-19 petri dish.”

Since the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, the Foreign Office has helped bring home around 1,400 people on specially chartered government flights from China and Peru, as well as around 1,900 people on cruise ships from places including California, Brazil and Japan.

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