ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), is operating eleven special flights to the United Kingdom to transport around 3,000 passengers ahead of April 09 when it will ban the entry of people arriving from four countries, including Pakistan, a senior official said on Tuesday.
From 4 a.m. on April 9, Pakistan, Kenya, the Philippines and Bangladesh will be put on a red list, the UK government said on Friday, joining about three dozen other nations mainly in Africa, the Middle East and South America.
“With total eleven flights operating in the sector, PIA would be actually transporting more than 3,000 passengers, expat population, back to their country or back to their homes in the UK,” Abdullah Hafeez Khan, manager PIA coordination and public affairs, told Arab News, adding that PIA had already planned a number of scheduled flights to cater to the load of people returning to the UK for Easter, but the “sudden” travel restriction on Pakistan had created “demand panic” in the market.
“Consequently, we actually had to ask permission from all concerned, and we thankfully and very fortunately we were able to mount the flights and we are now able to report that a lot of demand has now been catered to,” he said, adding that after two days of “panic,” passengers had now been adjusted on all available flights and new flights had ample capacity for everyone.
Travel agents and agencies, however, said the special flights arranged by PIA were not enough to cater to the thousands of passengers stranded after the ban, while tickets were being sold at exorbitant rates.
They said only four airlines – Turkish, Gulf, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic – were “smoothly” carrying out operations from Pakistan to various airports in the UK, and they were already pre-booked.
“Hundreds of people are approaching us daily for booking ahead of the travel ban, but unfortunately the tickets aren’t available,” Mohammad Ishaq, a manager at Makkah Group of Travels in Peshawar, told Arab News.
He said thousands of Pakistanis routinely traveled to the UK in April and May after Easter holidays, and a majority of the flights were booked in advance as far ahead as January.
“A dozen of the PIA special flights will be able to facilitate only a fraction of the stranded travelers,” Ishaq said.
PIA to operate 11 UK flights as thousands stranded ahead of travel ban
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PIA to operate 11 UK flights as thousands stranded ahead of travel ban
- Last Friday Pakistan, Kenya, Philippines and Bangladesh were put on a red list, travelers from these countries will be refused entry
- PIA says has ample capacity, will fly 3,000 passengers to UK before April 9, travel agents say PIA can only cater to fraction of stranded travelers
Pakistan, seven Muslim nations back Palestinian technocratic body, stress Gaza-West Bank unity
- The National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip was announced on January 14
- Muslim nations call for consolidation of the ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority countries on Thursday welcomed the formation of a temporary Palestinian technocratic body to administer Gaza, stressing that it must manage daily civilian affairs while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank amid the ongoing peace efforts.
In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Türkiye, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates said the newly announced National Committee for the Administration of the Gaza Strip would play a central role during the second phase of a broader peace plan aimed at ending the war and paving the way for Palestinian self-governance.
“The Ministers emphasize the importance of the National Committee commencing its duties in managing the day-to-day affairs of the people of Gaza, while preserving the institutional and territorial link between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, ensuring the unity of Gaza, and rejecting any attempts to divide it,” the statement said.
The committee, announced on Jan. 14, is a temporary transitional body established under United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and is to operate in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, the ministers said.
The statement said the move forms part of the second phase of US President Donald Trump’s Comprehensive Peace Plan for Gaza, which the ministers said they supported, praising Trump’s efforts to end the war, ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces and prevent the annexation of the occupied West Bank.
The top leaders of all eight Muslim countries attended a meeting with Trump in New York last September, shortly before he unveiled the Gaza peace plan.
The ministers also called for the consolidation of the ceasefire, unimpeded humanitarian aid into Gaza, early recovery and reconstruction and the eventual return of the Palestinian Authority to administer the territory, leading to a just and sustainable peace based on UN resolutions and a two-state solution on pre-1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.
