PIA reduces UAE-bound special flights’ fares by 20% to 30%

ISLAMABAD: Extending maximum relief to the Pakistani nationals stranded in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) due to the COVID-19 epidemic, Pakistan International Airline has reduced its special flights’ fares by 20 to 30 percent.

Addressing a meeting in Islamabad, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari said airfare for the UAE- bound special flights has been reduced by 20 to 30 percent and would come into effect from tomorrow.

He said it is the government top priority to ensure the repatriation of all those people who stranded in UAE, adding that government has increased capacity to repatriate 2, 000 people per week to 6,000.

Zulfikar Bukhari further said the tickets for UAE to Multan and Karachi will be available at 957 Dirhams and 810 Dirhams, respectively. The airfare for the flights operating from UAE to Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar has been reduced to 1,110 Dirhams.

He said PIA has lifted 11,000 stranded Pakistanis in the foreign countries thus so far. The operation to bring back stranded Pakistanis to the country is underway and so far 11,000 Pakistani nationals have been lifted via 101 flights, he added.

Zulfikar Bukhari  informed that the stranded nationals were brought back from United Arab Emirates (UAE), Japan Saudi Arabia, Canada, United Kingdom (UK), France, Turkey and Iraq.