The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Monday announced to cancel its scheduled flights to Iraq's holy cities of Najaf and Baghdad for Arbaeen.

"Flights scheduled for Arbaeen from September 27, now have been cancelled", said the PIA spokesperson. It was further announced that the passengers can get the refund of their tickets without any deduction.

It may be noted that due to new wave of coronavirus pandemic, Iraqi government cancelled the special permission granted for PIA flights.

The national flag carrier was scheduled to operate flights from September 27 till October 5 to Najaf and Baghdad from Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad.

The decision to operate special flights was made on the instructions of Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan to facilitate pilgrims.

Last week, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) warned the airlines of strict action over reports of continuous violation of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) and issued a fresh travel advisory.

The aviation authority's transport wing cited violation of the coronavirus SOPs by airlines despite strict implementation orders from the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) forum and issued a fresh travel advisory.