PIA ‘overwhelmed’ with aid inquiries
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PIA ‘overwhelmed’ with aid inquiries
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Pakistan’s flagship carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) says it has been overwhelmed with the number of inquiries it has been receiving to carry flood relief cargo to Pakistan.
“We have already flown in a first consignment of 850kg while another 9 tonne (9,000kg) is being accommodated,” PIA country manager Qatar Jan Mohamed Mahar said yesterday.
The airline on August 9 announced that it would carry any goods marked for donation to Pakistan from Qatar for free, following which it has been swamped with inquiries by interested individuals and groups, officials said.
The first consignment was sent through PIA’s flight PK288 on August 14 to Islamabad.
The floods have affected 20mn people, killed up to 1,600 and left 2mn homeless.
“The 9 tonne belongs to the Qatar Red Crescent, and it will be sent on Wednesday. In the past couple of days we have received many well-wishers walking in or calling in, including private companies, nationals from Turkey, India,” Mahar said.
According to him, due to space constraints the airline was first instructed by the government to prioritise donated cargo, but has now requested it to offload revenue-cargo and send the relief goods first.
“This applies across our network. We have been overwhelmed with the fact that people from as far as Toronto and Singapore to Saudi Arabia and Barcelona have been expressing their intent to dispatch relief goods via PIA,” Mahar said.
According to him, shipment of goods such as medicines, dry/canned food, milk, tents, clothing will be accepted free of cost on PIA network, while other charges such as agent handling and customs will be borne by the shipper.
“All cargo will be booked in the name of a registered NGO or a government agency like the National Disaster Management Authority (ndma.gov.pk),” Mahar said.
“PIA performed free airlifting of relief goods for victims of Swat exodus last year, while recently it’s volunteers helped in the rescue efforts of a plane crash of a private company in Islamabad,” Mahar noted.
The crash of AirBlue flight ED202 on July 28, in the hilly areas of Islamabad resulted in the loss of 152 lives, including pilot and the crew.
“Immediately after the accident PIA volunteers were sent to the crash site and helped in the rescue efforts to put down the fire and recover the bodies. PIA’s station team at Karachi and Islamabad airports helped the families of the passengers of the AirBlue Flight,” the official noted.
“We have already flown in a first consignment of 850kg while another 9 tonne (9,000kg) is being accommodated,” PIA country manager Qatar Jan Mohamed Mahar said yesterday.
The airline on August 9 announced that it would carry any goods marked for donation to Pakistan from Qatar for free, following which it has been swamped with inquiries by interested individuals and groups, officials said.
The first consignment was sent through PIA’s flight PK288 on August 14 to Islamabad.
The floods have affected 20mn people, killed up to 1,600 and left 2mn homeless.
“The 9 tonne belongs to the Qatar Red Crescent, and it will be sent on Wednesday. In the past couple of days we have received many well-wishers walking in or calling in, including private companies, nationals from Turkey, India,” Mahar said.
According to him, due to space constraints the airline was first instructed by the government to prioritise donated cargo, but has now requested it to offload revenue-cargo and send the relief goods first.
“This applies across our network. We have been overwhelmed with the fact that people from as far as Toronto and Singapore to Saudi Arabia and Barcelona have been expressing their intent to dispatch relief goods via PIA,” Mahar said.
According to him, shipment of goods such as medicines, dry/canned food, milk, tents, clothing will be accepted free of cost on PIA network, while other charges such as agent handling and customs will be borne by the shipper.
“All cargo will be booked in the name of a registered NGO or a government agency like the National Disaster Management Authority (ndma.gov.pk),” Mahar said.
“PIA performed free airlifting of relief goods for victims of Swat exodus last year, while recently it’s volunteers helped in the rescue efforts of a plane crash of a private company in Islamabad,” Mahar noted.
The crash of AirBlue flight ED202 on July 28, in the hilly areas of Islamabad resulted in the loss of 152 lives, including pilot and the crew.
“Immediately after the accident PIA volunteers were sent to the crash site and helped in the rescue efforts to put down the fire and recover the bodies. PIA’s station team at Karachi and Islamabad airports helped the families of the passengers of the AirBlue Flight,” the official noted.
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