Pakistan to install rapid COVID-19 testing at three main airports for UAE travel

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has started work on installing rapid PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing facilities for passengers traveling to the UAE from Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi, a spokesperson for the authority has said.
The UAE lifted a ban on transit passenger traffic from India, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries on August 5, but requires passengers traveling from these destinations to present negative rapid PCR tests taken no longer than four hours prior to departure. The PCAA had earlier said the country did not have the resources to conduct rapid PCR tests, and only rapid antigen testing (RAT) was currently available at Pakistani airports.
The more expensive PCR test detects the presence of viral RNA and can determine a COVID-19 infection even before the person becomes infectious, allowing for early isolation. The RAT test detects viral proteins, revealing patients at the peak of the infection when the body has the highest concentration of proteins.
“Different laboratories have informed [us] that they have procured Rapid PCR testing machines and will be able to install them at airports within next few days,” PCAA spokesperson Ismail Khoso told Arab News on Wednesday. “We are also in touch with the foreign ministry to get relaxation from the UAE government.”
So far, Sialkot International Airport is the only airport in Pakistan to install a rapid PCR testing facility.
“We are working on similar lines [as Sialkot] as we have asked airlines and UAE-approved labs to install rapid PCR testing machines at our major airports,” Khoso said, adding that unlike the small Sialkot airport, the country’s main ports catered to hundreds of UAE-bound passengers every day.
Sialkot introduced the testing facility on Monday as an initiative by local businessmen. The airport itself has the distinction of being the first privately owned public airport in Pakistan, built through funding and efforts by the business community of Sialkot. Along with the nearby cities of Gujranwala and Gujrat, Sialkot forms part of the so-called “Golden Triangle” of Pakistan’s industrial cities with export-oriented economies.
“As soon as we have learnt that they [Sialkot airport] required Rapid PCR test, we moved with the aim to facilitate our business community and passengers,” the airport’s chairman Khawaja Masood Akhtar told Arab News.
The business community welcomed the move.
“We have a lot of businesses which need connectivity with the UAE, as COVID-19 has already affected it due to restrictions,” Qaiser Iqbal Baryar, president of the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industries (SCCI), said.
Hassan Waseem, a businessman flying to Dubai from Sialkot, told Arab News he was glad he would not have to wait any longer.
“I have waited for my business trip for three months,” he said. “Thankful that I would not miss my meeting due to the rapid PCR test issue.”