British Member of Parliament (MP) for Manchester Gorton Afzal Khan has thanked the Prime Minister Imran Khan for his efforts in helping the stranded British nationals return home.
In a letter to PM Khan on Monday, MP Afzal Khan appreciated the joint efforts of the Pakistani authorities and Air Marshall Arshad Malik CEO of the PIA due to which 7700 Britons were able to return to the UK. The letter lauded the leadership of Imran Khan for all the support he provided to the British – Pakistanis during the difficult times. He also welcome the PIA’s decision to resume daily flights to various cities in the UK.
The letter states whilst the national airline PIA has made flights available from different locations, thousands are still stranded. Difficulties with flight cancellations, flight prices and travel restrictions has made it even more challenging for Britons to return home, therefore I urge you to consider flights from Karachi in addition to Islamabad and Lahore, allow passengers on flights with existing airplane tickets to prevent further costs. MP Afzal Khan also highlighted the issue of many Pakistani nationals who are stranded in the UK. He said that he received concerns from individuals who are unable to return to Pakistan, some of which have emergency case. Cases include people wishing to take bodies of deceased persons and burying them in Pakistan and the death of a close family member in Pakistan. He called on the PM Imran Khan if he allow the return flights from the UK back to Pakistan to accommodate these Pakistanis passengers.
Last week, a group of MPs led by Afzal Khan wrote a letter Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab expressing concerns over the British government reliance on PIA for repatriation of British nationals and called on government to started charter flights to bring Brits from Pakistan. The British Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO) have already started some special flights from Pakistan to be operation from Tuesday.
However sources closed to MPs confirmed they have change of heart about PIA since the airline resumption of UK operations and from Monday PIA flights leaving daily from Islamabad and Lahore to Manchester, Birmingham and London. They also said the feedback about the PIA has been encouraging and majority of the passenger wants to use it to return home.
Some MPs spoke to Daily Times on the condition of anonymity questioned the FCO charter flights, they said its seems a political move just to satisfy the British nationals as they are still paying full price for tickets. They also expressed concerns over the transparency of the booking system, claiming that the flights starting from 21 April but passengers are still waiting for confirmation. British High Commissions Islamabad officials said that they are prioritising vulnerable passengers, a claim refuted by two MPs.
