European Union seeks PIA help in Kabul evacuation

KARACHI: The European Union (EU) has sought help from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for the evacuation of stranded EU delegation employees in Kabul, ARY News reported on Sunday.

According to details, the EU’s special envoy to Pakistan wrote a letter to the CEO PIA, Arshad Malik, requesting the repatriation of 420 passengers stranded in Kabul.

“At this stage, we would ask for a flight from Kabul airport to Islamabad International Airport for direct further transit to EU through another aircraft made available by EU,” read the letter by European Union.

Similarly, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has also written a letter to the CEO of PIA requesting for early evacuation of the staff of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) from Kabul.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arshad Malik said on Sunday that the evacuation operation for the foreign nationals in Kabul was continued.

Arshad Malik said in a statement that the PIA management is trying to evacuate the foreign nationals from Kabul at the earliest. He added that there was no security nor government in Kabul.

READ: PIA PRAISES PILOT FOR DEALING WITH CRISIS-LIKE SITUATION AT KABUL AIRPORT

The PIA CEO said that they have cleared the runway of Kabul airport and PIA could work in a better way if security is provided.

Earlier on Saturday, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had suspended its flight operations for Kabul temporarily after the country’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that they had so far evacuated around 2000 people.