Stranded UAE expats can return as PIA resumes flights
PASSENGERS WILL HAVE TO PRESENT NEGATIVE TEST REPORT DURING CHECK-IN
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced resumption of regular flights from Pakistan to the UAE from yesterday.
The PIA’s move will help stranded UAE residents in Pakistan to travel back to UAE. Regular flights from Pakistan to UAE remained suspended from March 21 as part of the Covid-19 preventive measures.
UAE is the first country, which has given PIA permission to operate two-way regular passenger flights. “We have launched our full flight operation between Pakistan and UAE from July 9,” Mazhar Abbasi, PIA Area Manager for Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, told Gulf News. From Pakistan, passengers will now be able to travel from all the international airports including Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Peshawar, Faisalabad, Multan and others.
Travel conditions
Passengers travelling from Pakistan to the UAE will have to meet two main conditions. They are required to produce negative
Covid-19 test reports carried out 96 hours before the travel date and the approval from the UAE government for travel.
A PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez also confirmed that the PIA would resume its regular flight operations to the UAE from yesterday and tickets are already up for grab.
PIA earlier started operating one-way regular flights from the UAE to Pakistan on June 27. Earlier, it operated special repatriation flights from the UAE to Pakistan from April 18 to June 27.
Emirates flights
The PIA said the passengers could now book and purchase their tickets through PIA offices, corporate website and its travel agents. Passengers will also be required to fill health declaration form available online.
Emirates airline has already resumed passenger services to Pakistan’s four main cities — Karachi, Lahore, Sialkot and Islamabad. However, all passengers travelling from Pakistan must carry negative Covid-19 test report from a laboratory approved by Emirates. The report should not be more than 96-hour-old. The airline had temporarily suspended flights to and from Pakistan on June 24 following cases the announcement of some Covid-19 positive cases among passengers flying on Emirates to Hong Kong.
“The health and safety of our crew, customers and communities remains our top priority. Emirates has put in place a comprehensive set of measures at every step of the customer journey on the ground and in the air, to minimise the risk of infection spread,” the airline said in an earlier statement.
We have launched our full flight operation between Pakistan and the UAE from July 9.”
Machar Abbasi | PIA Area Manager for Abu Dhabi and Al Ain