Covid-19: Pakistan hopes UAE will lift travel restrictions soon

Islamabad - Cases have been falling in the country in recent weeks.

By Waheed Abbas

Published: Thu 1 Jul 2021, 3:05 AM

Pakistan hopes the UAE will remove passenger travel suspension on its citizens soon.

Khaleej Times · 8@8 with David Light, Thursday July 1

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Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson, said Islamabad is in contact with UAE authorities on the issue of flight ban from Pakistan to UAE as the number of coronavirus cases in the country have considerably decreased in the recent past.

“Hopefully, the UAE will update its travel advisory about Pakistan soon,” Chaudhry told Pakistan’s Geo News.

Pakistan has continued to report major fall in the number of daily Covid-19 cases, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said.

In its latest update, the NCOC said there were 735 new infections in the last 24 hours, which marked the lowest single-day spike since October 25, 2020 when 707 cases were registered.

The NCOC, the body leading Pakistan's campaign against the pandemic, said the total tally of confirmed cases has risen to 956,392 in the country, including 901,985 recoveries.

Abu Dhabi-based national carrier Etihad Airways on Tuesday announced suspension of Pakistan and India flights among other countries till July 21 in line with the directives issued by the UAE government.

“Following the latest UAE Government directives, passenger travel from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the UAE and Etihad's network has been suspended effective until July 21, 2021. Etihad will not be permitted to carry passengers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or India. However UAE nationals, diplomatic missions, official delegations and Golden visa holders are exempted from the UAE entry restriction. These passengers will be subject to acceptance and quarantine conditions,” said Etihad.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com