BEIJING: First flight of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) landed at Xian Xianyang International airport on Saturday after lapse of almost six months.
A PK-854 with 240 passengers on board left Islamabad International Airport this morning and landed in Xian at 16:48Â local time. The same PIA aircraft will leave for Islamabad from Beijing Capital International Airport on June 12 (Sunday).
All the passengers will undergo 14-day quarantine in Xian as per Covid-19 control and prevention measures imposed by the local government on the international passenger flights under the guidance of the joint prevention and control mechanism.
Talking to APP, Muhammad Sabir Jan, a Pakistani manufacturer of dental and surgical instruments based in Beijing who was stranded in Pakistan due to non-availability of PIA flights for China, expressed his great pleasure after arriving in Xian, China.
He informed that he went to Pakistan for a business trip in December last but could not return as no PIA flight was available for China due to closure of Xian airport following the Covid-19 control and prevention measures slapped by the Chinese authorities.
Sabir Jan, Founder and CEO, Sawuat Surgical Pakistan said that he was very excited to be in China and is looking forward to see his family members as well as friends in Beijing.
The national flag carrier resumed its weekly flights between Pakistan and China after the permission of Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to resume its commercial passenger flights between the two countries.
The PIA will operate a weekly passenger flight between Islamabad-Xian and Beijing-Islamabad route.
As per the latest policy of Covid-19, all the passengers travelling from Islamabad to China were required to posses 02 PCR negative reports conducted within 48 hours from 02 different designated labs. They were also required to get Covid-19 IGM within 48 hours before boarding.
All the passengers underwent a rapid PCR test at the airport before the flight departure.
The final decision on resumption of direct flights operated by Pakistan International was taken at a meeting between the foreign ministers of Pakistan and China held in Guangzhou, China last month.
The two leaders also agreed on the increase direct flights between the two countries according to the development of the epidemic.
PIA suspended its flight operation between Pakistan and China in December last year after the closure of Xian airport following the Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control measures imposed by the Chinese authorities.
