Officials say situation for Pakistani pilgrims and travelers in Jeddah, Mecca 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 to flight schedules due to 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 Pakistani Embassy in Riyadh and the Pakistani Consulate General in Jeddah have set up 24-hour hotlines and deployed teams at regional airports to assist Pakistani travelers.
The measures were taken following instructions from the Government of Pakistan to facilitate passenger transportation amid disruptions caused by the regional security situation.
Officials said the situation of Pakistani pilgrims and travelers in Jeddah, Mecca and Medina remains stable.
However, minor operational restrictions and precautionary risk advisories are currently in place in parts of the regional airspace due to the ongoing conflict, authorities said.
Tensions in the Middle East have sharply escalated after US and Israeli airstrikes assassinated Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior officials last week, triggering 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 these strikes, Iran launched retaliation against US military bases in several Gulf countries, significantly expanding the scope of the confrontation.
Pakistan’s international airports have seen numerous cancellations due to ongoing regional tensions in the Gulf. More than 570 flights to Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, have been canceled since February 28.
Affected carriers included Emirates, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia, Pakistan International Airlines, Airblue, Flydubai and Qatar Airways.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday said the government has taken comprehensive measures to help Pakistanis stranded in Iran and other Gulf countries.
Learn more: Pakistan fully restores flight operations to Saudi Arabia
He said special facilitation offices had been established to help returning Pakistani nationals. The Pakistani embassy in Abu Dhabi and consulates in Jeddah and Dubai are actively assisting Pakistani nationals, while similar arrangements have also been put in place in Tehran, Zahedan and Mashhad.
Officials said disruptions and airspace closures in several Gulf countries had caused Pakistan an estimated revenue shortfall of 20 billion rupees.
Globally, the crisis has led to large-scale disruptions in air travel. Although governments and airlines organized special flights to evacuate travelers stranded in the region, more than 13,000 flights were canceled internationally.
Flights in the region account for around 900,000 seats each day, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium, indicating the number of affected travelers could already exceed one million.
