ISLAMABAD – Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced to operate chartered flights from Islamabad to London and Manchester after the United Kingdom decided to take Pakistan off its ‘red list’ for international travel after five months.
Reports in local media quoting sources said national flag carrier has decided to operate the flights through a chartered company to facilitate the passengers waiting a long to travel between Pakistan and UK.
British Secretary of State for Transport Rt Hon Grant Shapps also shared the development on its Twitter stated Pakistan will finally be removed from the red list on September 22 (Wednesday).
In addition, EIGHT countries and territories will come off the red list 🔴 from Weds 22 Sept at 4am, incl. TURKEY, PAKISTAN and MALDIVES.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps (@grantshapps) September 17, 2021
“We’ll also be introducing a new simplified system for international travel from Mon 4 Oct, replacing the current approach with a single red list and simplified measures for the rest of the world — striking the right balance to manage the public health risk as No.1 priority,” he said in another tweet of the series.
TRAVEL UPDATE🔊: we’re making testing easier for travel 🧳💉 From Mon 4 Oct, if you’re fully vax you won’t need a pre-departure test before arrival into England from a non-red country and from later in Oct, will be able to replace the day 2 PCR test with a cheaper lateral flow.
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps (@grantshapps) September 17, 2021
The development came as the United Kingdom updated its travel advisory. Turkey, Bangladesh, Maldives, and Oman are among the eight countries that came off the UK red list in the recent review.
Previously, lawmakers in Britain had also criticized their government for keeping Pakistan on its ‘red list’ whilst promoting India to the ‘amber list’ for international travel despite a clear difference in the COVID-19 situation in both countries.
