By Ali Imran
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight carrying Pakistanis stranded in Dubai has landed at Islamabad Airport today Sunday.
According to details, medical checkup of all the passengers was carried out at the Islamabad airport after which, they were shifted to quarantine center.
It is to be mentioned here that the Pakistani passengers were stranded in Dubai due to the suspension of flight operation in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The first Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight carrying 227 “stranded passengers” from Dubai and other emirates left for Islamabad on Saturday evening, Pakistan’s consulate general in Dubai said in a Twitter post.
It was not clear when other flights would depart. More than 40,000 Pakistanis in the Gulf Arab state have registered with the consulate to return home, two UAE newspapers reported.
The UAE and other Gulf states have reported increased infections among low-income migrant workers who live in overcrowded quarters. Some have moved to re-house them in shuttered schools or dedicated centres, and are trying to arrange flights to repatriate them. On Sunday the UAE announced 479 new cases and four more deaths, bringing its total to 6,781 cases and 41 deaths so far. The UAE last week said it would review labour relations with states refusing to evacuate citizens, including those who have lost jobs or been put on leave, after the ambassadors of India and Pakistan said their countries were not yet ready to do so.
PIA said on its website that it would not be able to provide services for inbound flights beyond Islamabad International Airport due to suspension of domestic flights and a lockdown in the country.
Millions of foreign workers, many from Asia, form the backbone of Gulf economies and work in sectors that have been disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak.
