ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's national flag carrier will bring home on special Boeing 777 flights over 6,100 citizens stranded in Gulf countries, the Civil Aviation Authority said on Saturday.
Thousands of Pakistanis have been unable to return to their country due to a wave of flight cancellations by Middle Eastern operators following recent travel curbs in their countries.
Starting Monday, 18 special Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights are going to bring Pakistani nationals back home from the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.
"PIA flights were upgraded from Airbus to 777 (as per existing schedule) to take approximately 6132 passengers from Dubai, Shariah, Doha and Bahrain on 18 PIA flights," the CAA said in a statement.
Ten flights will depart from the UAE, bringing 3,394 passengers between July 5 and July 16, according to the statement.
Another 2,016 Pakistanis will come from Qatar from July 6 to July 18, and 722 from Bahrain between July 9 and July 11.
PIA will use Boeing 777 aircraft from its fleet as the wide-body airliner can accommodate more passengers than its regular Airbus planes operated on the routes.
