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PIA’s Special Flight Ferries Pakistani Students from Wuhan
June 05,2020
PIA’s special flight, PIA8872 left Tianhe International Airport, Wuhan today for Islamabad to transport 272 returning Pakistani students from Wuhan and Hubei province. In view of the disruption of international commercial flight operations, it was PIA’s third such flight from China and second from Wuhan in last three weeks. The previous two flights were operated from Wuhan and Shanghai on 18 May and 02 June respectively.
In pursuance of the instructions of the Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the Embassy had shortlisted passengers with urgent travel requirements for early return. The returning students were studying in the several universities of Hubei and continued staying in China after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. During the state visit of President Arif Alvi to Beijing on 16-17 March, the President and the Foreign Minister had held a tele-conference with Pakistani students and assured to bring them back to Pakistan at an opportune time. The Embassy had remained in close contact with the students in Wuhan and Hubei and sent a two-member task force which stayed there till the lockdown was lifted on 08 April, 2020.
Special arrangements were made by the Embassy of Pakistan for flight operation to ensure the health and safety of all passengers. A special unit of four Embassy officers was constituted to liaison with the PIA, Pakistani students and relevant Chinese departments for finalising the arrangements. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China and local authorities of Hubei province extended complete support and had put in place special arrangements to facilitate the returning students.
All passengers upon arriving in Pakistan would be subject to relevant procedures of Government of Pakistan for containing the spread of disease.