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Pakistan halts China flights amid coronavirus outbreak
ISLAMABAD, Jan 31, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Pakistan on Friday temporarily
suspended all direct flights with China, after a global health emergency was
declared over the coronavirus epidemic which has killed more than 200 people.
“We have suspended all the direct flights to and from China with immediate
effect till February 02,” Abdul Sattar Khokhar, a spokesperson for Pakistan’s
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), he told AFP.
The spokesperson didn’t comment on the reason for the flight suspensions.
A decision on whether flights will be resumed will be made on Sunday.
The three airlines affected are Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Air
China and China Southern Airlines, Khokhar said.
“We have received a notification from civil aviation authority regarding
the flight suspension to China, since it is a decision from the regulatory
body we will obey its directions,” said PIA spokesman Aamir Memon.
So far there is no confirmed case of coronavirus in Pakistan, however four
Pakistani students in China have been confirmed as infected.
Some 28,000 to 30,000 Pakistanis are living in China, while more than 500
Pakistani students are in virus-hit Wuhan, according to officials.
The foreign ministry told reporters on Thursday that there were no
immediate plans to evacuate Pakistani citizens from China.
Separately, Zafar Mirza, special assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on
heath, told a press conference: “We don’t want to make any emotional decision
which could bring this disease to Pakistan, we will take a rational decision
on appropriate time.”
BSS/AFP/ARS/1934 hrs