ISLAMABAD: Ƶ has allowed Pakistan’s national flag carrier, PIA, to operate seven more flights this month, the airline said in a statement on Friday, adding that these flights were in addition 21 others that were permitted by the kingdom a day earlier.
On Wednesday, PIA CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik informed Prime Minister Imran Khan that many Pakistanis were scrambling to fly back to the kingdom as their resident permits, or iqamas, would expire on September 30, but there were not enough flights.
“PIA is [now] allowed to operate more flights exclusively after using high-level diplomatic contacts,” an official handout circulated by the airline said on Thursday. “With the involvement of the prime minister, 21 more flights have been added to the PIA flight operations, bringing the capacity to fly 25,500 passengers.”
All Pakistani nationals would be able to return to their homes and workplaces in Ƶ before September 30, the statement said, adding: “PIA has already requested Saudi officials to double its flights for the month of October.”
PIA currently operates 23 weekly flights to Ƶ with a capacity to carry 12,000 passengers.
The airline informed in its recent statement on Friday that all PIA booking offices will remain open from 9am to 6pm during this weekend to facilitate people who want to fly to the kingdom.
The prime minister's special assistant on overseas Pakistanis, Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari, had recently discussed with Ƶ's deputy labor minister, Abdullah bin Nasser Abuthnain, the possibility of increasing the frequency of flights to the kingdom to allow more Pakistanis to return to their workplaces and homes on time.
Ƶ is home to over 3 million Pakistani expats.
