Authorities say situation for Pakistani pilgrims and travelers in Jeddah, Makkah and Medina remains stable
Pakistani missions in Saudi Arabia on Sunday launched 24-hour helplines and deployed teams at major airports to assist travelers, following disruptions in flight schedules amid the ongoing Gulf crisis. Radio Pakistan reported.
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has disrupted air travel, affecting Pakistani Umrah pilgrims and other passengers traveling to Saudi Arabia, officials said.
According to the government, the Pakistan Embassy in Riyadh and the Consulate General of Pakistan in Jeddah have set up 24-hour helplines and deployed teams at regional airports to assist Pakistani travelers.
The measures were taken on the instructions of the Government of Pakistan to facilitate passengers amid the disruption caused by the regional security situation.
Officials said the situation of Pakistani pilgrims and travelers in Jeddah, Makkah and Madinah remains stable.
However, minor operational restrictions and precautionary risk advisories are currently in place in parts of regional airspace due to the ongoing conflict, officials said.
Tensions in the Middle East rose sharply after US and Israeli airstrikes last week killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior officials, prompting a wave of retaliation from Tehran and widening the conflict across the region.
Read: 578 flights canceled in 5 days amid tensions in the Middle East
In response to the attacks, Iran launched retaliatory strikes against US military bases in several Gulf countries, significantly expanding the scope of the confrontation.
Pakistan’s international airports had been experiencing widespread cancellations due to ongoing regional tensions in the Gulf. Since February 28, more than 570 flights to Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, have been cancelled.
Affected airlines included Emirates, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia, Pakistan International Airlines, Airblue, Flydubai and Qatar Airways.
On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said the government had taken comprehensive measures to help Pakistanis stranded in Iran and other Gulf countries.
Read more: Pakistan fully restores flight operations to Saudi Arabia
He said special facilitation tables had been set up to help returning Pakistani nationals. Pakistan’s embassy in Abu Dhabi and consulates in Jeddah and Dubai were actively assisting Pakistani nationals, while similar arrangements had also been established in Tehran, Zahedan and Mashhad.
Officials said disruptions and airspace closures in several Gulf countries had caused Pakistan a revenue shortfall estimated at Rs 20 billion.
Globally, the crisis has caused large-scale disruptions to air travel. Even though governments and airlines organized special flights to evacuate travelers stranded in the region, more than 13,000 flights have been canceled internationally.
According to aviation analysis firm Cirium, flights in the region account for around 900,000 seats each day, indicating that the number of affected travelers could already exceed one million.
