ISLAMABAD: As many as 300 Pakistani nationals stranded in Germany owing to the suspension of airline operations due to coronavirus epidemic, reached Islamabad via a special flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
The special flight reached Islamabad airport on Monday morning, where doctors examined and screened the passengers.
Sources said that all the passengers and crew members have been shifted to a quarantine centre after screening and testing them for the coronavirus.
The sources added the passengers will be allowed to leave for their homes if their test results return negative.
The returning Pakistani nationals thanked the government of Pakistan, the high commission and the consulates general for arranging repatriation to their homeland.
They also expressed satisfaction over the efforts being put in by the Pakistani missions in Germany for the welfare and well-being of community members in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
PIA is continuing its operations to bring back stranded Pakistani nationals across the globe and so far 11,700 have been airlifted from the various countries.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi had also instructed all Pakistani missions abroad to facilitate the repatriation of Pakistanis during the epidemic.
On April 25, three more crew members of the Pakistan International Airlines have been tested positive for the novel COVID-19.