Coronavirus: PIA slashes fares for special Pakistan flights from UAE

Majority of the Pakistanis currently stranded in the UAE will repatriated in the next four to five weeks with airfares being slashed by around 20-30 per cent on the special flights, a senior official said on Thursday.
Ahmad Amjad Ali, Consul General of Pakistan, said the decision has been taken by the national carrier to cut rates, which will be effective from April 25 onwards.
Ghulam Dastgir, Pakistan's ambassador to the UAE, said over 1,260 people have were flown back from the UAE this week and tomorrow there will be flights from Abu Dhabi to Karachi, and Dubai to Faisalabad.
"We are working hard to accommodate as per the criteria and flights are being managed. All 40,000 people cannot go in one week. So they will be taken in the course of 4-5 weeks in an orderly manner," said Dastagir.
Zulfi Bukhari, special assistant to prime minister Imran Khan on overseas Pakistanis, stressed that the repatriation of Pakistanis stranded in the UAE has been top priority as 17 out of 27 flights were operated from the UAE.
"We have made a good headway with the UAE authorities so that our citizens have the least problem while coming to Pakistan. Apart from PIA, the UAE has been kind to allow its own airlines to repatriate stranded Pakistanis from the UAE.
They have brought back labourers for free," Bukhari said during a teleconference held with the Pakistani nationals residing in the UAE.
"Earlier, we had a capacity to repatriate 2,000 people and this week it reached 6,000. We are trying next week to take it to 8,000. Flights will be regular and there will be 15-17 flights next week from the UAE. These flights will continue, so, I request Pakistanis in the UAE to relax. Even if you don't get flight today, don't panic because we'll repatriate them soon," he added.
More than 40,000 people have registered with the Pakistan Consulate in Dubai for repatriation. It includes over 10,000 overseas Pakistanis who were rendered jobless because of the coronavirus outbreak.
He noted that over 15,000 Pakistani workers have lost jobs in the GCC, which is not a big number considering the situation in the region. But then there are workers who have been asked to go on paid or unpaid leave and these numbers are increasing. 
"There are people stuck in other countries such as Australia, Africa and Europe. So we have to look at a broader picture. Repatriation of our citizens is our ministry's top priority and no country has matched it," he claimed during the teleconference.
The minister urged the Pakistani diaspora to come forward and help in terms of arranging tickets for stranded Pakistanis in the UAE. 
waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com

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