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KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has temporarily halted flight operations to and from Qatar in an attempt to thwart the spread of coronavirus.
Pakistan International Airlines officials took the decision following Qatar government’s travel entry prohibit for different nationalities, including Pakistan.
The spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines, Abdullah Hafeez stated in a statement that the PIA had halted its flight operation to and from Qatar till 31 March 2020.
PIA has offered refunds and travel waivers, free of charge to all those clienteles who had reserved tickets to and from Qatar. Abdullah Hafeez said the national carrier regretted the inconvenience conducted due to flight postponement.
Earlier, on Monday authorities, have barred 97 passengers from traveling abroad at the Karachi and Islamabad airports as precautionary steps against the rapidly spreading coronavirus.
According to Pakistan Civil Aviation officials, as many as 97 passengers were offloaded from Doha-bound flights at the Karachi and Islamabad airports as precautionary steps against the coronavirus spread.
Citing the details offloaded passengers, the officials said 48 passengers were excluded from flying to Doha, Qatar at the Karachi International airport, while 49 others were barred from the Doha-bound flight at Islamabad airport.
The authorities said the bookings of the passengers flying to Doha on the visit visas have been discarded at all the airports of Pakistan.
Taking precautionary steps against the spread of coronavirus, Qatar has announced a temporary ban on travelers from several countries including Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Egypt, Lebanon, India, Iran, Iraq and Thailand.
Qatar Airways had already suspended flights to and from Italy, which has reported 366 deaths in the coronavirus outbreak. Three more cases of the virus on Sunday were reported in Qatar bringing the total to 15.
READ MORE:Coronavirus: Qatar bans passengers from Pakistan, 13