Islamabad: Pakistan's Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Friday said that domestic flight operations will resume from tomorrow (May 16) after a nearly two-month-long suspension.

In a video message, Sarwar said that the decision was taken during a National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) meeting while keeping "the difficulties of people in mind".

However, he added that only Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Serene Air would be allowed to resume flight operations between five cities — Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta.

"Twenty percent of pre-coronavirus flights will be allowed to operate and the seat occupancy in planes will be limited to 50pc," he said. Khan added that proper screening of all passengers would be done at airports and their temperatures would be checked before boarding the flight.

A press release from the aviation department stated that every passenger would have to fill a health declaration form before boarding, which would include details about their travel history for the last two weeks, current health state and an undertaking to follow the standard operating procedures.

According to a notification from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA), private aircraft and cargo flights will be allowed to operate from all airports across the country.

The government had suspended the operation of all types of domestic scheduled and non-scheduled chartered and private aircraft passenger flights from March 21, the minister said. The suspension was initially until April 29 but was later extended.

Meanwhile, the suspension of international flights has been extended by 16 days to May 31, according to a PCAA notification.

The suspension is not applicable to special flights of the national flag carrier announced by the government to repatriate Pakistanis stranded abroad.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1557311/limited-domestic-flight-operations-to-resume-from-may-16