Beijing allows direct flights from Pakistan, eight other countries

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

There’s gladdening news for the Pakistani passengers intending to travel to the Chinese capital Beijing as direct flights are being resumed from September 3.

This is a part of Beijing plans to gradually resume direct international flights starting, China's top civil aviation watchdog informed. 

Nine direct flights bound for Beijing from eight countries, Thailand, Cambodia, Pakistan, Greece, Denmark, Austria, Sweden and Canada, will resume on September 3, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. 

Strict measures, however, will be carried out to contain imported COVID-19 cases, such as capping passenger loads for each aircraft. 

In the past to curb imported cases, all international flights bound for Beijing were diverted to other airports as their first port of entry since March 23. The passengers were examined and quarantined and before cleared to enter the capital. 

More direct flights will resume operations in accordance with outbreak risks, tourist demand and other factors, the administration said. 

"The direct flight for Beijing will greatly help Pakistanis particularly the traders who were working on various mega projects of CPEC," a prominent Karachi-based businessman remarked.

“Many traders have to meet officials at the Pakistan Embassy in Beijing, so before that they used not to land directly in Beijing as direct flights were banned. The business community used to undergo quarantine for 14-days in hotels on payment but now they would not face such hurdles,” he added.