Pakistan resumes flight operations to China amid coronavirus global outbreak

Southern China Airlines carrying 150 passengers will land at Islamabad airport Monday morning, says CAA official

KARACHI: Amid the global outbreak of deadly China-originated novel coronavirus, Pakistan decided to resume its flight operations to China, an aviation official said on Sunday.

Joint Secretary Aviation Division Abdul Sattar Khokhar said that the flight operations between the two countries will resume on Monday (today).

On Friday, Pakistan had suspended flights to China in the wake of deadly virus outbreak which killed more than 300 people and infected over 14,000 – mostly in China.

The Pakistan of government is also ramping up its defences against the contagion virus with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has declared its five northern districts “most sensitive” due to fear of the mysterious illness.

Administration officials identified these districts as Kohistan, Shangla, Battagram, Mansehra and Abbottabad. “We are on high alert due to the movement of Chinese citizens in the region,” Altaf Hussain, the deputy commissioner of Battagram, told The Express Tribune.



"Southern China Airlines's flight carrying 150 passengers will land at the Islamabad airport on Monday at 9 in the morning," Khokhar said, adding that the notification regarding the flights suspension was issued till February 2.

“All direct flight operations between Pakistan and China are to be stalled on an immediate basis initially till February 2, subject to subsequent review,” said the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in its January 31 notification.

Almost 500 Pakistanis are studying in various universities of Wuhan, which is in virtual lockdown, while the total number of Pakistani nationals in China is between 28,000 and 30,000 – most of them are students.

Last week, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza said that at least four Pakistani students tested positive for the mysterious pathogen.

Earlier in the day, Dr Mirza announced that Pakistan is “now equipped to diagnose novel coronavirus” with the arrival of at least 1,000 testing kits from China.