PIA: Business over public safety in times of COVID-19

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) special flight from Thailand landed in Islamabad on the night of April 15, 2020 (Wednesday) due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

The passengers were kept stranded at a hotel since their arrival from Bangkok and Tokyo.

Food is not being supplied to the passengers that landed. Around 200 people are waiting on the road after landing in Pakistan as there are no such arrangements to take them to quarantine centers. They have been kept on the roads for hours after arrival in their homeland without food and water.

“We reached Islamabad from Bangkok yesterday, we paid PKR 100,000 for the ticket. Normally, the return ticket costs around PKR 55,000 (almost half the price), but we paid PKR 100,000 for a one-way ticket as we had to come back to our homeland,” said a passenger.

“We left at 10:00 in the morning and it is now 6:00 in the morning (the next day) but, no one has even asked us for a glass of water,” he added.

The passengers onboard included the cast of an upcoming Pakistani movie “Ishrat Made in China”. Aizaz Tariq Butt, Deputy Convener of Diplomatic Affairs for the Federal Chamber of Commerce, was also present in the flight.

“Before boarding the flight, we were promised that there will be only a one-night stay at a hotel and that tests for COVID-19 will be conducted at the airport,” said Aizaz while narrating the ordeal.

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“When we sat in the bus at the airport, we thought that the tests will be conducted at the hotel. Moreover, the PIA management was asking PKR 21,000 from every passenger for the rooms,” he added.

“Passengers who protested against this were sent to Haji Complex where the situation is even worse,” he further added.

Pakistani actors Sanam Saeed and Shamoon Abbasi also shared their concerns via Twitter and Facebook.

A message
– the Govt needs us to do our part and follow instructions strictly.
– Deviant behavior causes the next batch trouble. Don't be selfish.
– @ndmapk@PTIofficial please ensure that appointmented officials provide better, accurate information instead of giving false hopes.

— Sanam Saeed (@sanammodysaeed) April 16, 2020

We have been waiting since 24 hours for our test to be done at ramada Islamabad as we were told that it will be done by this evening and now we don't know why we have to stay for another week in the hotel where we are being threatened to pay,we were told that price is included

— Shamoon Abbasi (@shamoonAbbasi) April 15, 2020

When we arrived, Ramada hotel staff gave us a notice that said that we are supposed to pay for our food. They have been pressurizing everyone since 6:00 in the evening to pay up for one week of their quarantine time. However, every time they have just one thing to say that if anyone doesn’t pay, they will be shifted to Haji Camp.

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The PIA management and the hotel staff are constantly pressurizing the helpless passengers who have almost paid four times (4x) of the actual amount to come back home.

According to reports, the Government of Pakistan (GoP) has spent millions of rupees on Pakistanis who are returning home. The cost includes transportation, lodging, food and coronavirus testing but unfortunately no such thing is being provided properly.

A new SOP requires the passengers to pay for all expenses if they want to stay at a hotel, otherwise they will be moved to a government quarantine facility. Around 2,000 Pakistanis stranded abroad have been brought home with a daily expense of almost PKR 10 million on the people returning.

Earlier, passengers were only quarantined for two days which has been extended to around 7 days. People who test positive will stay in quarantine for 14 days till two of their COVID-19 tests come back negative.

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