Pakistan suspends all international flights till April 4
The government on Saturday suspended all international flights for two weeks amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in the country, an official said.
Starting Saturday evening the flight ban will run through April 4, Abdul Sattar Khokar, a spokesman for the official Civil Aviation Authority, said in a statement.
Earlier on Saturday, the government had announced the suspension of all international flights operated by the national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), for a week.
Read more: PIA suspends all international flights till March 28
“After carefully examining all options, the Government of Pakistan has decided to suspend the operation of all international passenger, chartered, and private flights to Pakistan, effective from 21st March 2020 (2000 hrs local time) to 4th April 2020 (2000 hrs local time),” the statement added.
The move followed government measures aimed at containing COVID-19 cases, which has jumped up to 720 with three confirmed deaths.
On Twitter late Friday, Taimur Khan Jhagra, health minister of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, confirmed the fourth death in the Dera Ismail khan district. The federal government did not verify Jhagra’s claim.
The railways have already announced the suspension of 42 trains to the southern Sindh and southwestern Balochistan provinces – the two worst hit by coronavirus – starting Sunday.
