ISLAMABAD: Pakistani passengers traveling to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) can now benefit from rapid PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing facilities at all international airports in the country, a Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) spokesperson told Arab News on Saturday.
The UAE lifted a ban on transit passenger traffic from India, Pakistan, Nigeria and other countries on August 5, though it still requires travelers from these countries to present negative COVID-19 tests that are not done more than four hours before their departure.
“The rapid PCR testing facilities have now been installed at all international airports in the country,” Ismail Khoso, the PCAA official, said.
Staff member of a local laboratory registers Pakistani travelers going to the United Arab Emirates on August 14, 2021, at the Islamabad International Airport. (Photo Courtesy: Islamabad Diagnostic Center)
“Different airlines have collaborated with different labs,” he continued. “At every airport, several laboratories have set up their counters and we are trying to facilitate them as much as we can.”
The rapid PCR test can determine a COVID-19 case even before a person becomes infectious, making it possible to isolate such individuals on time. Other tests detect viral proteins, revealing the coronavirus presence in a person’s respiratory system at the peak of the infection.
Azhar Rasheed, who works with the Islamabad Diagnostic Center (IDC), confirmed his organization had also established rapid COVID-19 testing facilities at the Islamabad and Lahore airports.
“The lab has 10 registration counters at the Islamabad airport,” he told Arab News. “It has the capacity of performing more than 2,000 tests a day, with more than 400 tests an hour.”
The IDC, he added, had similar PCR setups at other airports to help passengers of various airlines like PIA, Etihad, Air Arabia, Serene Air, Emirates and Airblue.
A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesperson said the country’s national flag carrier collaborated with the UAE-approved laboratories to provide rapid PCR testing facilities to PIA passengers at airports in Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore and Karachi.
“After the availability of the rapid PCR test, flight operations to different UAE destinations from Islamabad and Peshawar already started on Friday,” Abdullah Hafeez, a PIA official, told Arab News.
According to the PCAA, after fulfilling the requirement of the coronavirus testing at airports, a total of eight flights operated to different UAE destinations on Friday from the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar, carrying 1,560 passengers.
Similarly, two flights have already departed Islamabad while four other flights are scheduled to fly out of the federal capital on Saturday.
