RAWALPINDI: After Saudi Arabia’s decision to allow direct flights from Pakistan starting from Dec 1, the Pakistan International Airlines has announced its flight schedule to operate 35 flights weekly to the kingdom.

The Saudi authorities on Thursday decided to withdraw a ban on flights from six countries — Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Egypt, Brazil and Vietnam — and passengers from these countries will no longer be required to undergo a 14-day quarantine in a third country.

A spokesman for PIA said that the administration has begun expanding air operation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with operating 35 flights weekly from Pakistan’s different destinations.

Flights to be operated to Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam and Al-Qasim

He said the flights will be operated to Saudi Arabia’s cities of Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam and Al-Qasim.

The PIA flights will depart from different cities of Pakistan — Islamabad, Karachi, Multan, Lahore and Peshawar — he added.

Earlier, some flights of the national airline in some categories were operating even before this new flight schedule. Passengers departing from December 1 must comply with the five-day quarantine requirement according to Saudi law, said the PIA spokesman.

He added that the decision to increase the number of flights will be taken after the demand increases.

Since the travel restrictions were relaxed by the Saudi government, a large number of people intending to travel to Saudi Arabia have been contacting the airline offices for tickets.

The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia had issued a notification to all airlines operating in the kingdom’s airports on November 25 allowing direct entry to the kingdom from the Republic of Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Federal Republic of Brazil, Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Arab Republic of Egypt and India without the need to stay 14 days outside these countries before entering the kingdom.

“Institutional quarantine procedures must be applied for a period of 05 days, regardless of passengers’ immunisation status outside the kingdom, with the continued application of exceptions issued regarding some groups in this regard.”

Published in Dawn, November 28th, 2021