The PIA Spokesperson says the flights will be operated to Saudi cities Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam and Al Qassim from Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Peshawar.
ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/Pakistan Point News-Nov 27th, 2021) Pakistan International Airlines has announced to expand its flight operation to Saudi Arabia after the Kingdom relaxed Coronavirus-related restrictions from next Wednesday.
In a statement, the PIA spokesman said thirty five flights a week will be operated from Pakistan to Saudi Arabia.
He said the flights would be operated to Saudi cities Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam and Al Qassim from Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Peshawar.
The spokesman, however, made it clear that the passengers departing will have to comply with a five-day quarantine requirement in accordance with the Saudi laws.
He said the decision with regard to increasing the number of flights will be taken as per the demand in the coming days.
On other hand, the several ountries around the world have restricted travel from southern African countries in an effort to contain a new variant of Covid-19, Omicron. In a statement, the World Health Organization said that Omicron has an increased re-infection risk.
The statement said the number of cases of this variant appeared to be increasing in almost all of South Africa's provinces. This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning.
The WHO said it would take a few weeks to understand the impact of the new variant, as scientists worked to determine how transmissible it was.
The United States, Britian and other countries that have announced travel restrictions and measures include Australia, Japan, Iran, Canada, Thailand Brazil, India and Saudi Arabia have also announced restrictions including suspension of flights to and from the South Africa states.
