ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Aviation, Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Sunday said the flight operations of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would start from July 05 (Monday) to repatriate 6132 stranded overseas Pakistanis through 18 flights.

Talking to media here, the federal minister said "Overseas Pakistanis are close to the heart of Prime Minister, Imran Khan and he issued directives to the Aviation Division for making prompt arrangements to repatriate them, realizing their sufferings".

He said Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has called an explanation and issued show cause notices to the airlines including Etihad Airways, Turkish Airways, Emirates Airways and Qatar Airways for booking extra flights while penalty would be imposed on the airlines too. Ghulam Sarwar said PIA has allocated special four Boeing 777 for the flight operation.

The stranded overseas Pakistanis in Gulf States would be brought back within four days in a dignified manner, the federal minister said. He said CAA and PIA 18 special flights have been scheduled for bringing back 6132 overseas Pakistanis from Dubai, Doha, Sharjah and Bahrain.