KARACHI: Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has clarified that the nationals returning back to Pakistan have been temporarily exempted from the submission of the coronavirus health certificates till March 21, ARY News reported on Thursday.
The relaxation was given by the aviation authorities following the request of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik.
The PIA head contacted secretary aviation today and requested to exempt Pakistanis from the submission of the certificate of RT-PCR test for coronavirus as the nationals were facing difficulties while arriving back from Britain, Canada and European countries.
CAA directed in its NOTAM, obtained by ARY News, that allowed passengers ‘already airborne on direct flights for Pakistan prior to the time of effect’ March 21 (8:00 pm) would be allowed to disembark without the requirement of COVID-19 RT-PCR test result or certificate.
The spokesperson of Aviation Division rejected the report of a private TV channel regarding a decision to remove the condition of RT-PCR test for coronavirus after March 21 and termed it ‘incorrect’. The statement added that the aviation division has not made any such decision.
It is pertinent to mention here that CAA had announced on March 17 to resume international flight operations from March 21 after equipping all the airports with necessary infrastructure and resources to ensure proper screening of the passengers for novel coronavirus.
Read: Coronavirus fears: CAA closes five major airports for international flights
According to a notification issued by CAA, international flight operations will revert to all the airports except Gwadar and Turbat from Saturday.
In a step to stop the spread of COVID-19, the authority had closed five major airports of the country for international flights.
All the international arriving passengers to Pakistan will be required to provide a copy of test results for COVID-19 conducted during the 24 hours prior to boarding the flight, the statement said and added that all airline operators are also directed to ensure disinfection of aircraft between each disembarkation and embarkation of passengers onboard and aircraft as per internationally recognized procedures.
