A special PIA charter flight, carrying 200 Pakistanis stranded in the United States due to coronavirus-caused air travel suspension, Sunday left Dulles International Airport for Islamabad.
This is the first of six special flights Pakistan has arranged for the safe return of stranded citizens who had been stuck in the United States since coronavirus disrupted international travel about a couple of months ago.
The second PIA special charter flight will fly from Washington IAD for Karachi on May 13th
The third special flight to Lahore will operate from Newark Airport, New Jersey. The Government of Pakistan will also operate three more flights from the U.S. for repatriation of Pakistani citizens. Dates, cities of origin and destinations in Pakistan will be announced in due course of time.
Meanwhile, a U.S. special charter flight will be taking around 150 Pakistani students, who had been in the United States on various U.S.-sponsored exchanges programs, back to Pakistan on Monday.
In the past few weeks, a number of stranded Pakistanis in the United States were able to return to Pakistan flying Qatar Airways which had been given special permission by the Government.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Asad Majeed Khan, was at Dulles Airport to oversee arrangements for the inaugural flight and to bid farewell to passengers.
Khan said repatriation of stranded Pakistanis is a top priority for the Government of Pakistan. The Pakistan Embassy in Washington and its Consulates in the United States will continue to take all possible measures to ensure safe and early return of all the Pakistanis desirous of returning home amid the coronavirus outbreak.
The helplines set up by the Embassy and its Consulates for the facilitation of stranded Pakistan would also continue to function till such time that all of them have been repatriated.
