Islamabad: Pakistan would allow some airlines to bring back stranded Pakistanis despite a restriction on international flights to the country, a top official said.
At an electronic news conference on Saturday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari also said that the government would facilitate the burial in Pakistan of those who died abroad during the coronavirus pandemic, reports Dawn news.
There are more than 100 Pakistanis among almost 40,000 who have died of this deadly virus in the US since late January.
Bukhari advised Pakistanis stranded in the US to take Qatar Airways to Doha where the government was making special arrangements for taking them home.
“We are working on various options and a decision is expected soon,” said Pakistan’s Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan while addressing the same news briefing.
The Civil Aviation Authority announced in Pakistan earlier on Saturday that international and domestic flights to the country will remain suspended till April 30, Dawn news reported.
It also announced that exceptions have been made for chartered international flights within the limits required to control the spread of COVID-19.
The adviser said that pilgrims returning from Iran via Taftan did not spread coronavirus in Pakistan.
“Some passengers, returning from Iran and Saudi Arabia, by planes might have been infected but not those who used the Taftan border,” he said.