RAWALPINDI: After Pakistan suspended flights to and from China in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, eight Chinese transit passengers were stuck at Islamabad International Airport (IIA) on Thursday night. The Chinese passengers, including three women, arrived at the IIA from Dubai on a PIA flight (PK-212) at about 7:50pm on Thursday.

They were scheduled to board PK-852 to Beijing at 10:50pm. As Pakistan decided to suspend flights to and from China, PK-852 to Beijing was cancelled.

According to sources, the eight Chinese transit passengers, who had no Pakistani visa, would be sent back to Dubai on any available PIA flight.

Senior Joint Secretary Aviation Division Abdul Sattar Khokhar told Dawn on telephone that the national flag carrier’s flights to China had been suspended until February 2 and the situation would be reviewed after that.

PIA has been operating two weekly flights between Islamabad and Beijing since May 2019.

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in a press statement said the flight operation between Pakistan-China would remain suspended until Feb 2.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2020