First special flight with 200 stranded Pakistanis aboard departs for Islamabad

NEW YORK, May 11 (APP):A specially chartered Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight left Washington, the capital city, for Islamabad Sunday carrying 200 hundred Pakistani citizens stranded by the coronavirus outbreak that led to the suspension of commercial flight operations around the world.

It was the first of six such charter flights, arranged by the Government of Pakistan in collaboration with PIA, for the repatriation of a total of around 1,500 Pakistanis stranded in the United States, according to the Pakistani embassy in Washington.

Meanwhile, a US chartered flight will be taking around 150 Pakistani students back to Pakistan on 11 May. These students had been in the U.S. on various US-sponsored exchanges programmes.

Earlier, a number of stranded Pakistanis in the United States were able to return to Pakistan using Qatar Airways flights that were allowed especially by the Government.

On Sunday, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Asad Majeed Khan, was present at Dulles Airport to oversee arrangements for the first flight and to bid farewell to passengers, the embassy said in a press release.

Speaking on the occasion, Ambassador Khan said that 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 pandemic, he said. 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.

The second chartered flight for Karachi on 13 May 2020 will also depart from Washington. 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, the press release said.

The dates, cities of origin and destinations in Pakistan will be announced in due course of time, it said.