PIA flights to Saudi Arabia suspended over new strain of coronavirus

KARACHI (Web Desk) - All Pakistan International Airline (PIA) flights to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have been suspended from today until further notice after the spread of a new strain of COVID-19 on Monday.

According to the PIA spokesperson Abdullah Khan, PIA flights to and from Saudi Arabia have been cancelled from December 21.

The cancelled flights of PIA include PK-9739 and PK-9739 from Multan-Jeddah-Lahore, many other flights i.e. Lahore-Jeddah-Lahore,  Islamabad-Dammam-Islamabad, Lahore-Dammam-Lahore, Karachi-Madinah and Madinah-Karachi, Lahore-Madinah, Madinah-Multan and Madinah-Multan, Karachi-Jeddah-Karachi.

The spokesperson added that the flights will remain suspended till the further orders of the Saudi Arabian aviation authority. After getting permission by GACA, the passengers will be adjusted into flights, he added.

The PIA administration advised passengers to register themselves through the airline’s call centre (111-786-786) with their accurate contact numbers in order to get timely updates.

Earlier, Saudi Arabia suspended all international commercial flights for a renewable week except for the foreign flights already in the kingdom which will be allowed to leave, Reuters reported quoting the state news agency SPA.

The entry to the kingdom through land and seaports will be also suspended for a renewable week, and those measures come after the spread of a new strain of COVID-19 among a number of countries.