Pakistan to start repatriation efforts for Pakistanis stranded abroad

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities have decided to start second phase of relief flights to repatriate stranded nationals abroad during the COVID-19 epidemic.

According to sources, the second phase of the repatriation of Pakistani nationals stranded abroad during the epidemic will start from Tuesday (today), 6: 00 pm till April 19.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will repatriate more than 1,850 Pakistani nationals stranded at different countries around the world due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Sources further said two flights will operate today to bring back over 380 Umrah pilgrims from Saudi Arabia. One of the flights will arrive in Multan airport, while the other will land at Lahore Airport.

Another flight will bring 410 recently-released Pakistani inmates from UAE and it will be landed at Faisalabad airport. According to PIA spokesperson, that on April 17 and 18, relief flight will be operated for Manchester.

On April 17, PIA flights PK-8852 and PK-8894 will leave for Seoul, while on April 18, a special flight will leave for Jakarta from Karachi airport.

Another flight on April 17 will repatriate Pakistanis from Dubai, while on April 19 PIA will operate flight PK-784 from Toronto to Karachi.

The spokesman said special flight will bring 270 stranded Pakistanis from Thailand and Japan to Islamabad. On April 15 and 16, two flights will bring back 360 Pakistani prisoners from Oman.

Earlier, PIA had announced that it would operate special flights to bring back stranded Pakistanis. It further stated that those wishing to make a booking can contact PIA offices, its website and call centres.

According to the reports, a total 39,748 Pakistanis have requested to return home to Pakistan, while 1,640 Pakistanis have been repatriated through 12 special flights till date.