PIA to run special flights for Ukraine-based Pakistanis in Poland

Islamabad: The Pakistan International Airline on Saturday has announced to run two special flights to Poland on Sunday, February 26, to safely evacuate Pakistani students and nationals stranded in war-torn Ukraine.

According to details, Air Marshal Arshad Malik, CEO of the national carrier, said that the airplanes will land in Poland’s capital Warsaw after Pakistanis are transported there from Ukraine.

“PIA is in contact with the Pakistan embassy and its officials,” he assured, adding that two flights are being run because cities bordering Poland and Ukraine don’t have airports that can accommodate bigger airplanes.

There are approximately 1500 Pakistanis stuck in Ukraine at the moment. Nearly 500 of them are students. So far, 35 of them have been evacuated to the Polish capital.

The situation in Ukraine worsened after Russian President Vladimir Putin initiated a military operation against the neighboring country earlier this week.

Earlier on Friday, the country’s embassy in Ukraine advised all Pakistani students to reach Ternopil for their evacuation to Poland. The announcement came after a video of Pakistani students stranded at a metro station in Kyiv surfaced over the internet. They claimed that the embassy had proved unhelpful.

They have requested Prime Minister Imran Khan to get them evacuated by whatever means it was possible. They said they had nothing to eat or drink at the metro station and had run out of cash because ATMs were not working.