PIA issues schedule to repatriate Pakistanis stranded abroad

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has issued schedule for repatriation flights to bring back the stranded Pakistanis from abroad from April 10 to April 13.

The PIA management extended on Thursday its relief flight operations in a bid to repatriate stranded Pakistanis around the world in prevailing coronavirus pandemic.

The PIA offices are requesting those wishing to board these flights to approach the national airlines. According to the new schedule, a PIA fight will bring back stranded nationals from Denmark on April 10.

On April 11, three flights will operate, with the first one repatriating 125 Pakistanis from Azerbaijan. On the same day, a flight will bring back 175 Pakistanis from Kuala Lumpur.

The flight will also take along Malaysian and Singapore diplomatic staff and citizens. The third flight, scheduled for April 11, will also take French citizens out of Pakistan. On April 12, a relief flight will set off for Tokyo, carrying Japanese citizens and basic need items.

As many as 200 stranded Pakistanis will be repatriated from Bangkok through a relief flight on April 13. The schedule for flights came after the Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (PALPA) resolved its dispute with the PIA over the alleged non-provision of safety equipment to airline staff members.

The pilots' association had earlier boycotted flight operations over safety concerns. All passengers who are declared virus-negative will be allowed to proceed home; all others will be shifted to quarantine.

All flights will be regularly disinfected and the PIA will take all protocols to ensure its crew's safety very seriously.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as a proactive measure in the wake of coronavirus has established a contingency ATC radar services room at JIAP away from the main/existing area control centre to ensure swift change over and continuity of provisioning of much-needed air traffic services for the movement of aircraft from/to Pakistan.

The step is aimed at establishing a contingency Area Control Center in case the main ACC is required to be shutdown temporarily. The change over time required would be less than 30 minutes.