Pakistan on Sunday resumed direct flights to and from China after the government announced that the country was fully equipped to diagnose coronavirus following the arrival of approximately 1,000 health kits from the neighbouring country, according to reports.
On Friday, Pakistan had halted flights to and from China as the death toll from a virus outbreak spreading in China mounted and the World Health Organisation (WHO) called it a global health emergency.
“We are suspending flights to China until February 2,” Senior Joint Secretary of Aviation Abdul Sattar Khokhar had told Reuters by phone, adding the situation would be reviewed after that date.
He had declined to comment on the reason for the closure.
On Thursday, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had decided to suspend flights to Beijing until February 2.
According to Khokhar, PIA had been operating two flights between Pakistan and China but it had decided to suspend flight operations.
PIA had started two flights a week to Tokyo and Beijing in May 2019 after a gap of three months.
