PIA’s flights to S. Arabia cancelled after Kingdom shuts international travel

KARACHI: National flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced to cancel its flights scheduled for Monday to different destinations in Saudi Arabia, consequent to the Saudi government’s decision of a week-long suspension of all international flights.
Talking to the media persons in Karachi, PIA Spokesman Abdullah Khan said that it is due to resurgence of COVID-19 that flights are being stopped and the duration of this suspension may be further extended.
He said that the national flag carrier decided to cancel its flight numbers PK-9739 and PK-9760 from Multan and Lahore to Jeddah. Moreover, those on routes Lahore-Jeddah-Lahore, Islamabad-Dammam-Islamabad, Lahore-Dammam-Lahore and Karachi-Medina-Karachi have also been cancelled.
He said flights from Lahore to Medina, Medina to Karachi, Medina to Multan and Karachi-Jeddah-Karachi have also been suspended. He said that these flights would remain cancelled till Saudi Arabia opens their airspace for international flights.
He advised the passengers to contact concerned PIA officials via 786-786-111 for their queries and needed guidance, besides getting registered their correct contact numbers, through PIA call centres, so that they may be kept updated about flight status.
Earlier, Saudi Arabia temporarily suspended all international commercial flights for a week except for the foreign flights already in the Kingdom which will be allowed to leave, the state news agency reported on Monday.
The Saudi Press Agency said entry into the Kingdom through land and sea ports was also temporarily suspended for one week, adding that the suspension could be extended for another week.
The move comes after a new strain of COVID-19 was identified in the United Kingdom. England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said on Saturday that the mutation can spread more quickly and urgent work is under way to confirm that it does not cause a higher mortality rate.
SPA said those returning to the Kingdom from one of the European countries or any country where the new strain has appeared after December 8 have been directed to isolate at home for two weeks, and take a coronavirus test during the isolation period and again every five days.- TLTP