Stranded Pakistanis arrive in Lahore after PM sends special flight to New Delhi

Asks advisor to arrange a special PIA flight to bring back the stranded passengers, if needed

ISLAMABAD: After Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took notice of over 200 passengers stranded at New Delhi Airport due to  some technical fault in a Gulf Air aircraft, a special flight was sent for their evacuation, which arrived in Lahore on Tuesday.

Gul Air’s flight GF-766, that took off from Bahrain at 4am on Sunday, was supposed to arrive at the Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport the same day at 9am. However, due to a thunderstorm, the aircraft developed some technical fault and had to be diverted to New Delhi. But passengers have since been stuck in India.

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Speaking to Express News some of the passengers expressed their gratitude to India and the PM for their support and help in the situation.

"We had to sit in the plane for eleven hours. There were initially no facilities and we posed as a security threat to India," said one of the passengers.

The premier, while taking notice of the situation, directed his advisor on aviation Shujaat Azeem to contact concerned authorities and, if needed, arrange a special flight of PIA to bring back the stranded passengers.

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He also directed the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi to look after the well being of stranded passengers.

After the premier took notice of the situation, the stranded Pakistanis said they had been treated very well and felt like they were home.

"We were provided with hotel rooms and food and they took very good care of us. We did not even feel like we were anywhere else, it felt like we were in Pakistan and they (India) treated us like family," another passenger informed.