Although the minister of the cabinet said that flights would begin "within weeks," he was unable to confirm whether the government had secured an airline to transfer asylum seekers to Rwanda. While a Bill to revive the delayed deportation strategy works its way through Parliament, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins insisted that the Home Office was "ready to go" with the program's implementation. Flights to Kigali are expected to begin in the spring, according to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has yet to provide a precise timetable. The flights should take off as soon as feasible, in our opinion. We sincerely hope to have it in a few weeks. Health Secretary Victoria Atkins It comes after reports suggested that Rwanda’s state-owned airline turned down a UK Government proposal to transport asylum seekers because it wanted to avoid being associated with the controversial scheme. Speaking to Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Ms Atkins said: “We want them to take off as quickly as possible … We very much plan to have it within weeks”. Expand article logo Continue reading Asked whether the Government had an air carrier ready yet, Ms Atkins said: “The Home Office is working on this, and so believe you me, the Home Office is ready to go.” “They haven’t got one, have they?” Sir Trevor asked her. “We have seen some real progress in the last year with the reduction in small boat crossings by a third … but this is one part of our overall plan to cut illegal migration,” Ms Atkins replied. Mr Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill, which aims to protect the Government’s troubled deportation scheme from further legal setbacks after the UK Supreme Court ruled against it, will return to the Commons next week. As well as compelling judges to regard the east African country as safe, the legislation would also give ministers the power to ignore emergency injunctions. But the Lords has insisted on an amendment to restore the jurisdiction of domestic courts in relation to the safety of Rwanda and enable them to intervene. First of all, we need to get (the Bill) through Parliament where the Labour Party has been blocking it for a long time. Once it’s up and running, I’m confident we’ll be able to operationalise the scheme, get people on flights Prime Minister Rishi Sunak The Financial Times last week quoted a Home Office insider as having said “RwandAir said ‘no’ because of the potential damage to their brand”. Government sources have insisted to the PA news agency that securing planes to carry asylum seekers would not be a problem when the time came to put the scheme into action. Mr Sunak has pinned the success of the scheme on the Bill passing Parliament, telling reporters last Wednesday: “First of all, we need to get it through Parliament where the Labour Party has been blocking it for a long time. “Once it’s up and running, I’m confident we’ll be able to operationalise the scheme, get people on flights … I’m confident that once the Bill is passed, we will be able to get the scheme up and running.”