Pakistan has the capacity to bring back only 2,000 people a week.
Published: Sat 18 Apr 2020, 9:00 PM
Updated: Sun 19 Apr 2020, 8:51 AM
The repatriation of Pakistanis stranded in the UAE began as the first special flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flew 227 people back to Islamabad on Saturday evening.
"First PIA flight carrying 227 stranded passengers from Dubai and the Northern Emirates left for Islamabad today at 1900 hours," the consulate said in a statement on its twitter account.
The Pakistan Consulate Dubai also clarified reports on social media saying there are "no special flights" scheduled on Sunday. "Please wait for our call. We have data of those who have registered with us," said the consulate.
On April 14, two flydubai planes ran special flights but they were limited to Pakistani prisoners. The flights were arranged by the UAE government to repatriate 400 prisoners who were serving their terms in the UAE jails for minor offences.
Dozens of flights will be deployed in the coming weeks to repatriate Pakistanis stranded across the GCC and other countries around the world.
Syed Zulfi Bukhari, special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on overseas Pakistanis, earlier said that bringing back stranded nationals from the UAE is the top priority of the government.
"Pakistan has the capacity to bring back only 2,000 people a week, and there are people stranded across Oman, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, the UAE and other countries. I have received permission to increase this number to 8,000 and a lot of its focus will be on repatriating people from the UAE," Bukhari said.
"With the help of the UAE government, we will work with the UAE's carriers and PIA to bring back stranded Pakistanis."
Earlier on Saturday, Islamabad extended the suspension of domestic and international flights till the end of this month.
"Government of Pakistan has extended the suspension of domestic and international flights up to Thursday, April 30," according to a circular issued by Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority.
However, special flights from the UAE and other Gulf countries will operate as planned to repatriate stranded Pakistanis in the region.
waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com
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