Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has chalked out a comprehensive plan for the repatriation of more than 2,000 Pakistani citizens languishing in Ukraine as Russian military aggression enters the third day.
In this regard, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) PIA, Arshad Malik, recently made a phone call to the Pakistani Ambassador to Ukraine, Noel Khokhar, and briefed him regarding the plan.
According to the plan, the Pakistani Embassy in Ukraine is required to gather all Pakistanis in the Western Ukrainian city of Ternopil and send them to Poland.
Since Ukraine’s airspace is closed for an indefinite period of time, PIA will repatriate the Pakistani citizens from Poland.
A Boeing 777 of the PIA will perform the operation and will depart from Pakistan once all citizens arrive in Poland. Till then Pakistani Embassy in Poland will be responsible for looking after the citizens.
It must be noted here that PIA remains banned from entering the European Union (EU) airspace by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). However, the national flag carrier is expected to get one-off permission on humanitarian grounds to perform the repatriation operation.
On the other hand, Pakistani Embassies in Poland, Romania, and Hungary have already announced that Pakistani citizens entering these countries by land will be fully facilitated.
Pakistani Ambassadors to these countries assured that Pakistani citizens will be fully facilitated in all possible ways, including visa-free entry, stay, food, and travel to Pakistan.
