PIA given green light to resume flight operations to repatriate Pakistanis stranded abroad

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been given permission to partially resume its flight operations to help repatriate citizens stranded abroad, it emerged on Wednesday. 

In the first stage of operations, PIA will bring back a limited number of Pakistani travelers, the PIA spokesperson said in an announcement. 

PIA will initially fly stranded passengers from Canada and the UK who were meant to travel to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, the spokesperson said. 

Limited flight operations from Toronto will resume on April 3, while operations from the UK will resume on April 4. 

All repatriation flights will initially land at the Islamabad airport, the spokesperson said. Once the flights land, all passengers will be tested in the airport lounges and transferred to a local hotel for six hours. 

All passengers who are declared negative will be allowed to proceed home; all others will be shifted to a quarantine. 

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