As chaos and fear grip Kabul airport after Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has become the epicenter of the evacuation operations for the international community.
Devastating scenes were seen at the US-controlled Hamid Karzai International Airport. At least 20 casualties have been reported in and around the airport in attempts to desperately trying to flee the country.
Despite such circumstances, the PIA has airlifted 2,000 people from Afghanistan over the past week. Most of them were foreigners, including International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank officials, diplomats, journalists, and political leaders. The airline aims to ramp up its flight operations to Kabul to bring out maximum people from the war-torn country that has gone back under the Taliban control after 20 years.
The evacuation operations carried by the national airline against all the odds and exceptional circumstances have earned it much-deserved international acknowledgment.
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The German Ambassador to Pakistan, Bernhard Schlagheck, lauded the PIA’s efforts and expressed his gratitude for evacuating German citizens and staff from Afghanistan.
“Kudos to the Pakistani authorities for the tremendous cooperation at Islamabad Airport. Evacuating German citizens and local staff from Afghanistan together with our European allies would not be possible without it. Bohat Shukria!,” he tweeted.
Kudos to the Pakistani authorities for the tremendous cooperation at Islamabad Airport. Evacuating German citizens & local staff from Afghanistan together with our European allies (esp. the 🇳🇱) would not be possible without it. Bohat Shukria! #PakGermanDosti pic.twitter.com/uG5jXGeVMo
— Alfred Grannas (@GermanyinPAK) August 23, 2021
Showing confidence in PIA’s operations, the European Union (EU) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have also requested the airline to evacuate their employees from Afghanistan.
In a letter to the PIA Chief Executive Officer, Arshad Malik, and Minister for Aviation Ghulam, Sarwar Khan, EU Ambassador to Pakistan, Androulla Kaminara, has requested that they arrange a special aircraft to evacuate their delegation stranded in Kabul on humanitarian grounds.
“Evacuation of 420 persons is envisaged, with 251 in the priority for which a list has been made,” the letter said.
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On Sunday, another letter from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) requested PIA CEO to help evacuate its 290 people from Afghanistan.
“As many as 290 passengers would be the part of this evacuation, of which 162 would be ADB staff and their families, and Afghan nationals and the remaining are Filipino nationals stranded in Afghanistan,” the letter read.
According to reports, the national flag carrier plans to operate three special flights to Kabul today (Monday) to evacuate foreigners and their dependents.
The carrier will use an A-320 and two Boeing 777 aircraft to evacuate 600 foreigners from Afghanistan in three flights, the first of which has already landed in Kabul after taking off at 8:00 am from the New International Islamabad Airport.
