Flight operations re-start; Pakistanis return home from China

In a major relief to Pakistanis stranded in virus-hit China, the government resumed flight operations on Monday (February 3). 

Three flights carrying Pakistanis from China landed at the Islamabad International Airport (IIA) on Monday. 

The passengers included a group of Pakistani students and community members stranded in Ürümqi due to the suspension of flights. 

Earlier, they were granted an 11-day visa extension by China. 

Authorities said that no citizen, whether Chinese or Pakistani, is allowed to leave China without spending a 14-day disease-free period”. 

The first — a Qatar Airlines flight — arrived from Doha, carrying 40 students. Health department staff conducted medical examinations of all the students at the Islamabad airport after which they were permitted to go home.

A second flight — a China Southern Airlines flight CZ6007 — brought 69 passengers including 57 Pakistanis and 12 Chinese.

The third flight, carrying 86 passengers, arrived in Islamabad Airport directly from China.

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing thanked Pakistan for extending their unwavering support to the country during this “difficult time”.

He explained that nobody from Hubei province or the city of Wuhan, ground zero for the outbreak, had been allowed to travel domestically or internationally.

Chinese citizens travelling to Pakistan are being traced and monitored by the respective embassies and companies.

Soon after the WHO declaration of the epidemic a “global health emergency”, Pakistan halted flights to and from China on January 31.