Pakistan state airline PIA lands first flight in Kabul since evacuation ended: spokesperson

Pakistan state airline PIA lands first flight in Kabul since evacuation ended: spokesperson
This is the first flight PIA has landed in Kabul since the foreign troop withdrawal and mass-evacuation effort ended around two weeks ago.
1 min read
13 September, 2021
This is the first PIA flight to Kabul since mass evacuations ended [KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty]

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) commercial flight from Islamabad has touched down in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on Monday, a spokesman for the airline said.

The flight of the Pakistani state airline will carry people from Kabul to Islamabad holding valid travel documents - though it was not immediately clear if it was classified as a regular commercial flight or a special commercial charter.

This is the first PIA flight to touch down in Kabul after the end of the foreign troop withdrawal and large-scale evacuation of people from Afghanistan following US President Joe Biden's 31 August deadline.

It was previously reported on Saturday that PIA flights would resume on Monday.

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"We have got all technical clearances for flight operations," PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan told AFP.

"Our first commercial plane... is scheduled to fly from Islamabad to Kabul on September 13."

Khan said the service would depend on demand.

"We have received 73 requests which is very encouraging... from humanitarian relief agencies and journalists," he said.

(Reuters, AFP)