PIA to operate 20 flights from UAE to bring back 5,000 Pakistanis

The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resources Development has released the next 10-day flight schedule to repatriate Pakistanis stranded abroad in different countries, reported Khaleej Times on Tuesday.

Around 22 special repatriation flights will be operated from the UAE to different cities of Pakistan. Pakistan International Airlines will operate 20 flights while the UAE carriers will operate two flights, repatriating thousands of stranded Pakistanis from the UAE.

In total, more than 10,000 Pakistanis will be repatriated during May 22 to 31 schedule and around 5,000 of them will be flown back from the UAE. Officials said this schedule is subject to change, depending on the approvals of the governments and operational changes due to Covid-19.

Last week, Pakistanis repatriated from the UAE were tested for coronavirus prior to their departure from the Dubai International Airport and only those tested negative were allowed to board the aircraft.

In the ongoing phase of repatriation flights, the ministry said around 12,000 Pakistanis would be repatriated till May 21. Till May 16, almost 30,000 of Pakistani nationals have been repatriated through special flights from different countries since the outbreak of Covid-19.

Pakistan Consulate Dubai had repatriated 5,883 stranded Pakistanis till Thursday last through 26 PIA special flights. The UAE has the highest number of stranded Pakistanis in foreign countries. As many as 63,000 people had registered with the consulate for repatriation.