UK govt decides to run special flights for British nationals stranded in Pakistan

LONDON: The British government has finally decided to run chartered flights to evacuate Britons stranded in Pakistan after the matter was repeatedly raised in this publication on behalf of thousands of suffering travelers.

In a video message, The British High Commissioner in Pakistan Dr Christian Turner said: "We know the frustrations some of you have had with PIA during industrial action, cancellations as well as costs."

"PIA told us yesterday that they will now no longer fly daily to the UK, so Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has agreed that we can now organise a series of chartered flights to get more Britons back home."

Dr Turner mentioned that it would take at least the rest of this week to sort out the chartered flights and highlighted the fact that he had already ensured flights for over 7,500 Britons with the help of Pakistani authorities.

The News and Geo had raised the matter first on April 8, questioning why the UK govt was not launching chartered flights for Pakistan using a £75 million fund dedicated to bring back stranded Britons from several regions, including the Philippines and three cities of India.

Since then, stories of the pain and misery of stranded Britons, who have found themselves caught in terrible situation after flights were suspended between UK and Pakistan due to the coronavirus pandemic, poured in on a daily basis. Dozens of stranded citizens shared their plight, and their reports were shared in multiple stories.

Stranded Britons in Pakistan had been requesting chartered flights ever since Pakistan closed its airspace, but the British government was slow to action, even though the facility was given to Brits in India, China, Peru and The Philippines.

Many stranded Britons in Pakistan are extremely vulnerable and desperately need to return to the UK. Some of them are elderly and have run out of medication, while others have run out of money after buying multiple tickets for PIA flights that were eventually cancelled.

Afzal Khan MP, who had pressed repeatedly for chartered flights from Pakistan, welcomed the British High Commissioner’s statement.

“Pleased to hear there are now plans for charter flights to bring home #BritsStrandedinPakistan but this should have happened weeks ago. I will be following developments closely to ensure all British Pakistanis are returned home safely.”

Naz Shah, MP, had previously written to Zulfi Bukhari, minister for overseas Pakistanis, to highlight the plight of her stranded constituents in Pakistan who had booked multiple flights which were cancelled. In some cases, travellers were stuck at Islamabad airport for days after they were formally told that their flights had been cancelled.

In the letter, the MP from Bradford West wrote: "This simply is not acceptable; the airline has failed in its duty of care to my constituents. Some constituents through sheer desperation have made up to three separate bookings to get home, with many having to borrow money off family and friends for this; yet, the airline has failed to deliver."