The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Tuesday formally allowed six chartered aircraft to land in Pakistan, which will transport the American nationals back to the US.
The flights are being operated by US-based Omni Air International.
All of these flights will arrive empty [without any passengers] in Pakistan and the crew won’t be allowed to leave the plane as a precautionary measure amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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The first of these flights will arrive in Islamabad on Tuesday (April 21) from Sofia, Bulgaria, while the second is scheduled to reach Karachi from Sharjah on April 22 (Wednesday).
Meanwhile, two flights from Sofia will land in Islamabad and Karachi respectively on April 23. Two more flights from Sofia will arrive on April 25.
The permission was granted as the United States has planned six chartered flights to repatriate its more than 2,200 citizens from Islamabad and Karachi to Washington’s Dulles Airport during this week.
Earlier in the day, the US embassy in Islamabad asked the American citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents in Pakistan to get registered before 11:59pm in case they wanted to return back to their country.
In a tweet, the embassy said, “We will close the traveller interest form on April 21 at 11:59 pm [Pakistan Standard Time]. Please ensure you complete the form before it closes.”
According to the alert shared by the embassy, they will continue contacting those who completed the traveller interest form to ensure every seat is full on the US government-chartered flights departing this week.
“A reminder that these flights are US government charter flights to repatriate US citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents to the United States. United States citizens and their immediate family members, followed by Lawful Permanent Residents, will receive priority for all flights.”