ISLAMABAD: Two special flights to repatriate 260 Pakistanis stranded in Saudi Arabia departed to Faisalabad on Monday, Pakistani officials in Jeddah confirmed.
Consul General Shaiq Ahmad Bhutto bids farewell to Pakistani nationals who are departing from Jeddah on a special repatriation flight to Faisalabad on May 18, 2020. (Photo courtesy: Pakistan Consulate General in Jeddah)
“First flight PK8764 with 130 passengers left at 1100 hours while the second flight PK 8766 with equal number of passengers flew at 1300 hours,” Pakistan’s consulate in Jeddah said in a statement, adding that Consul General Shaiq Ahmad Bhutto himself bade farewell to the passengers at Jeddah International Airport.
According to the consulate, a large number of Pakistanis, mostly on short-term visas, awaiting exit clearance or undergoing medical treatment have been waiting to return home from Saudi Arabia since the kingdom suspended international travel amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Already five special repatriation flights from Riyadh and Jeddah have reached Pakistan since the suspension of flight operations in the kingdom on March 15.
Saudi Arabia halted all international travel and suspended Umrah in response to the pandemic.
In March, Pakistan repatriated 15,000 nationals who went to Saudi Arabia for Umrah and found themselves stranded amid the coronavirus lockdown in the kingdom.
According to Prime Minister Imran Khan’s special assistant on overseas Pakistanis, Zulfiqar Bukhari, the kingdom is supporting Pakistan’s repatriation efforts.
“Saudi Arabia has offered to use their airlines free of cost for laborers, even for those who were laid off before the pandemic,” he told Arab News last week.
