Pakistan to resume domestic flight operations: CAA

Flight operations will resume from Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Islamabad, and Peshawar

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) gave the nod for the resumption of domestic flights from May 16 after weeks of closure due to COVID-19. Social distancing will be observed in the flights according to the instructions from the authorities.

PIA and Serene Air will resume their operations. Air Blue, one of the country’s major carriers, had earlier announced that they would continue operations in the latter part of June.

The flight operations will resume from Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Islamabad, and Peshawar. According to CAA, 68 flights will operate from Jinnah International Airport, 32 from Allama Iqbal International Airport, 32 from Islamabad International Airport, eight from Quetta International Airport, and four from Bacha Khan International Airport.

Earlier, the domestic flights were grounded due to concerns about coronavirus. The original suspension of flight operations was until April 30. It was incrementally increased afterward, mostly due to the concerns shown by Sindh.

In an earlier press release, the decision by the authorities was to restart domestic operations on May 29. However, new directives will allow flights from tomorrow.

On the international front, flights will remain closed until the end of the month. PIA has been operating special flights to repatriate Pakistanis stuck in different parts of the world, including the Gulf States and Europe, as well as the United States. In the coming days, the national carrier will be operating more special flights to help the fellow countrymen.

There have been close to 36,000 positive tests in the country, with more than 800 people succumbing to the disease. Over 10,000 people have also recovered from the novel coronavirus.