PIA special flight brings back 248 Pakistanis from UK
December 24, 2020 03:15 PM
A special chartered flight of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) from Manchester arrived at Islamabad International Airport bringing back 248 stranded Pakistani nationals, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Thursday, quoting its sources.
The TV channel reported PIA special flight PK-9702 reached Islamabad International Airport from Manchester.
As per the National Institute of Health (NIH), coronavirus tests were conducted of all the passengers arriving from the United Kingdom.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Pakistan on Tuesday allowed the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to operate a chartered flight to repatriate stranded Pakistanis from the UK.
It is pertinent to note that Pakistan banned flights from the United Kingdom until December 29 after a new strain of the coronavirus reportedly emerged there.
The restriction will be applicable to all direct and indirect flights from the UK, effective December 23. It will also apply to all persons travelling from the UK who have been there for 10 days.
Transit passengers who do not leave the airside in the UK will be allowed to travel to Pakistan, according to a notification issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).
The passengers on board the special flight observed coronavirus-related standard operating procedures and the restrictions imposed by the CAA.
The government has already allowed the passengers holding Pakistani passports and business, visitor and transit visas issued by the British authorities to travel back to Pakistan while keeping a negative polymerase chain reaction test report conducted within the 72 hours prior to commencement of travel to Pakistan.