ISLAMABAD: A special flight to repatriate 250 Pakistanis stranded in Saudi Arabia will depart for Lahore on Thursday, Pakistani officials in Riyadh confirmed.
“Priority was given to Pakistanis traveling due to emergency, medical issues, expiring Iqamas and visit visas, final exit and laid off workers,” the Pakistani embassy in Saudi Arabia said in statement on Wednesday.
Operated by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), this will be the second repatriation flight from Riyadh since the suspension of flight operations in the kingdom on March 15.
Two special return flights from Riyadh and Jeddah brought 500 stranded Pakistani nationals home on May 1.
“The embassy is taking all possible measures for smooth selling of air tickets as well as for welfare, safe and early return of Pakistanis from the kingdom,” Ambassador Raja Ali Ejaz said, as quoted in the statement.
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.
Saudi Arabia halted all international flights and suspended Umrah pilgrimage in response to the pandemic.
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 on Tuesday.
