PIA special flight to bring around 260 Pakistani nationals in Ghengdu, China on Thursday

Beijing: A special flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) with around 260 Pakistani passengers on board will arrive at Shuangliu International Airport, Chengdu, China on Thursday (October 22).

In view of the disruption in commercial flight operations, it will be tenth special flight of the national flag carrier to transport Pakistani nationals from Pakistan to China, Qadir Bux Sangi, PIA Country Manager for China said on Monday.

He said the special flight is scheduled to take off from Islamabad and it will bring Pakistani officials, businessmen, traders and the Pakistani staff of different companies in China.

All the special flights are being arranged and operated by PIA with the help of the relevant Chinese and Pakistani authorities, he added.

Under the Chinese government rules, all the passengers of the special flight will undergo to PCR testing and quarantine in the government supervised facilities as part of efforts to quell the spread of Covid-19.

He informed that the special flight will also transport around 170 passengers from Chengdu airport to Islamabad on the same day.

Qadir Bux Sangi informed that another PIA’s special flight is scheduled to arrive in China on October 30.

Responding to a question, he said that the national flag carrier was in negotiations with the Chinese authorities for the resumption of regular flights from Islamabad to Beijing to facilitate Pakistani passengers travelling on this very important route.

He hoped that the PIA regular flights from Islamabad-Beijing-Islamabad would soon be able to get permission to resume its normal flights.

It may be mentioned here that PIA started special flight operation in May this year when a special flight PIA-8872 airlifted 274 returning Pakistani students from Wuhan and Hubei province to Pakistan.

A special unit of Embassy of Pakistan, Beijing and Consulates Generals officers has been constituted to liaison with the PIA, relevant Chinese departments and Pakistani community members for finalizing the arrangements of flight operations.

Special arrangements are made with help of the Chinese government and relevant authorities during special flight operation to ensure the health and safety of all Pakistani passengers.