COVID-19 crisis: Essential Services Act imposed on PIA for six months

KARACHI: The Essential Services (Maintenance) Act 1952 has been implemented on the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for six months to bring back overseas Pakistanis stranded abroad, a notification from the interior ministry issued Wednesday read.

According to a spokesperson for the national carrier, the Act would come into force immediately and will remain in effect for the next six months. The purpose was to ensure uninterrupted flight operations, it said.

No employee will be able to decline their duties as the act comes into effect, the PIA spokesperson said. Refusal to do so may lead to legal action.

The official said the national carrier has brought almost 27,000 people back home and that there were still thousands more in various different countries waiting to return to Pakistan.

Last week, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Zulfi Bukhari had announced additional flights to bring back Pakistanis stranded in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, UK, Qatar, Turkey, Kenya, Bahrain, and Sudan due to the coronavirus lockdown.

New schedule of flights announced

Bukhari had said the number of international flights to bring back the Pakistanis were increased on Prime Minister Imran Khan's instructions and to facilitate the maximum number of people.

“Even with increased capacity, I request overseas Pakistanis to avoid unnecessary travel and let more deserving people get a chance to travel at priority,” Bukhari had said on Twitter.

According to the schedule, the flights would operate May 1-10 and would bring back over 7,000 Pakistanis from nine countries mainly from the Gulf region. Some 17 flights would land at different airports across Pakistan and bring back more than 4,000 Pakistanis from the UAE. The flights would be operated by PIA and UAE-based airlines.

On the other hand, five flights would bring back more than 1,200 Pakistanis from Qatar via a Doha-based airline to different airports across the country.

Meanwhile, two PIA flights would bring back 500 Pakistanis from Saudi Arabia to Lahore and Islamabad on May 1.

'Would like American Embassy to help us'

Bukhari also shared that one PIA flight each would be sent to Oman, Sudan, UK, Kenya, Turkey, and Bahrain. The flights would bring back more than 1,500 Pakistanis.

A day before that, PIA chief executive Arshad Malik had requested US Ambassador Paul Jones for help in repatriating citizens stuck in the United States.

"We want to bring back Pakistanis stranded in the United States due to the coronavirus pandemic,” Malik had said in a letter to the American ambassador.

"Because of the pandemic, flights have been cancelled and we would like the American Embassy to help us out in this regard. The American Embassy can contact the relevant departments and help us in repatriating our citizens.”