Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Aviation Division Ghulam Sarwar Khan Friday informed the National Assembly that 7,000 stranded Pakistanis would be brought back home before Eid from various parts of the world on special flights.

Participating in the debate on coronavirus, he said, “From May 14 to May 22, the government is bringing back about 7,000 stranded Pakistanis from across the world to enable them to celebrate Eid with their loved ones.”

He said that till date one million stranded Pakistanis had been brought back home from different corners of the world on special flights after the outbreak of coronavirus.

He said that stranded Pakistanis, including students, workers, members of Tableeghi Jamaat, and pilgrims from across the globe had been repatriated.
He said Pakistani prisoners from Oman and the United Arab Emirates were brought back free of charge.

He said Aviation Division operated 181 inbound flights and took 25,000 passengers to their destinations in 27 countries.

He said around 250 students from Wuhan and China would be repatriated through special flight on Monday.

He said that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had started direct flight operation for United States due to efforts of the present government. “Till date, PIA has operated about 12 direct flights for the United States to bring back Pakistanis,” he added.

He said that due to coronavirus pandemic, PIA was suffering about Rs 5 billion loss monthly.

He said civil aviation was also suffering about Rs 2.5 billion loss per month due to coronavirus.

About accountability drive in the country, the minister said that he was in favour of across the board accountability.

“I am ready to give account of my wealth from 1972 to 2020, but accountability should be done across the board.”

He said that accountability should be started from those who enjoyed power many times in the country.