RAWALPINDI: After imposing travel restrictions on air travellers from the UK due to discovery of a fast-spreading new variant of coronavirus in South East England, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Pakistan on Tuesday allowed the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to operate a chartered flight to repatriate stranded Pakistanis from the UK.

The chartered flight will be operated from Manchester to Islamabad to bring back those Pakistanis who arrived in the UK over the past 10 days and now want to return home.

The CAA’s director for air transport issued a notification about the approval for the PIA to operate a chartered flight through Hi Fly HFM702. The chartered flight will arrive in Islamabad on Wednesday (today) for transporting Pakistani nationals stranded in the UK as a special case.

The passengers on board the special flight will observe coronavirus-related standard operating procedures and the restrictions imposed by the CAA.

PIA extends deadline for receiving applications for Voluntary Separation Scheme

On Monday, Pakistan placed travel restrictions on air travellers from the UK after the discovery of a new mutated strain of coronavirus spreading rapidly across South East England.

Following the National Command and Operations Centre’s directives, the CAA intimated scheduled and chartered airline operators operating to and from Pakistan that the temporary restrictions on inbound travellers from the UK, travelling directly or indirectly to Pakistan, would be effective from Dec 23 to 30.

These restrictions apply to all persons who originate travel in the UK or have been in the country over the past 10 days.

Passengers originating travel from destinations other than the UK, transiting through the UK and not leaving the terminal at a UK airport, will be allowed to travel into Pakistan.

According to the restrictions, Pakistani passport holders who have travelled to the UK on visit/temporary visas will be allowed to return to the country with negative Covid-19 PCR test, conducted within 72 hours before commencement of travel to Islamabad.

Pakistani passengers holding study, family, work and settlement visas may return to Pakistan if their visas are expiring within the next 30 days from Dec 22.

The CAA said the flight crew performing duties on flights between the UK and Pakistan could disembark in Pakistan with the stipulation that they would be tested for Covid-19 upon arrival and quarantined in designated hotels.

Furthermore, diplomatic officials of British High Commission and their families currently outside Pakistan may be allowed to return to Pakistan under similar conditions.

VSS deadline extended

The PIA management on Tuesday extended the deadline for receiving applications for the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) from the employees.

PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan said that at the request of the employees, the management had decided to extend the last date of submission of VSS applications for another week — till Dec 29.

However, general secretary of the PIA Officers Association Safdar Anjum said in a tweet that PIA employees had rejected the VSS and its deadline had been extended due to poor response from the employees.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2020