Pakistan national carrier resumes flight operations to Gulf countries amid Iran-Israel ceasefire
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspended its flights to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday night after Iran confirmed it had attacked American forces stationed at Qatar's Al-Udeid air base.
PIA said it had limited its flight operations as a precautionary measure due to the ongoing situation in the Gulf region, where tensions have been high since June 13 after Israel attacked Iran's nuclear facilities and military leadership, triggering a military conflict between both sides.
'PIA Flight Operations for Gulf/KSA have resumed,' a PIA spokesperson said in a statement.
Sharing details of the flights, the spokesperson said PIA's PK-245 flight departed from Islamabad for Dammam at 12:30 p.m. after a delay of 15 hours while the airline's PK-743 Karachi to Madinah flight, which was diverted due to the closure of the airspace on Monday, departed at 1:30 p.m. after a delay of 14.5 hours.
The spokesperson shared that PK-713 flight from Lahore to Madinah also departed at 1:30 p.m. after a delay of seven hours while PK-209 Sialkot to Sharjah flight departed at 1:30 p.m. after a delay of 15 hours.
'In addition, flight PK-221 from Multan to Dubai, flight PK-251 from Sialkot to Doha, flight PK-761 from Karachi to Jeddah, and flight PK-261 from Islamabad to Abu Dhabi also departed at 1:30 pm,' the spokesperson said.
Due to the delayed departure of these flights, those returning home will also be delayed, he clarified.
'We apologize for the inconvenience caused to passengers, however, the decision to restrict operations last night was taken in accordance with air safety principles,' the spokesperson said.
Iran's response came a day after the US launched a surprise attack Sunday morning on three of Iran's nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
US President Donald Trump dismissed Iran's missile attack as a 'weak response,' calling for peace in the Middle East. Hours later on Tuesday, the US president announced both Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire.
The military conflict between Iran and Israel began on June 13 when the former attacked the latter's nuclear facilities, alleging Tehran is close to building an atomic weapon. Iran has dismissed Israel's allegations and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
41 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Israel FM says world ‘must act decisively' to stop Iran nuclear drive
Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called on Wednesday for global action against Iran's nuclear program, after Tehran suspended its cooperation with UN watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency. Saar in a post on X called on Germany, France and Britain 'to reinstate all sanctions against Iran' under a mechanism in a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, adding that 'the international community must act decisively now and utilize all means at its disposal to stop Iranian nuclear ambitions.' Developing
Al Arabiya
41 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Analysis Shows Trump's Tariffs Would Cost US Employers $82.3 Billion
An analysis finds that a critical group of US employers would face a direct cost of 82.3 billion dollars from President Donald Trump's current tariff plans–a sum that could be potentially managed through price hikes, layoffs, hiring freezes, or lower profit margins. The analysis by the JPMorgan Chase Institute is among the first to measure the direct costs created by the import taxes on businesses with 10 million to 1 billion dollars in revenue–a category that includes roughly a third of private-sector US workers. These companies are more dependent than other businesses on imports from China, India, and Thailand–and the retail and wholesale sectors would be especially vulnerable to the import taxes being levied by the Republican president. The findings show clear trade-offs from Trump's import taxes, contradicting his claims that foreign manufacturers would absorb the costs of the tariffs instead of US companies that rely on imports. While the tariffs launched under Trump have yet to boost overall inflation, large companies such as Amazon, Costco, Walmart, and Williams-Sonoma delayed the potential reckoning by building up their inventories before the taxes could be imposed. The analysis comes just ahead of the July 9 deadline by Trump to formally set the tariff rates on goods from dozens of countries. Trump imposed that deadline after the financial markets panicked in response to his April tariff announcements, prompting him to instead schedule a 90-day negotiating period when most imports faced a 10 percent baseline tariff. China, Mexico, and Canada face higher rates, and there are separate 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum. Had the initial April 2 tariffs stayed in place, the companies in the JPMorgan Chase Institute analysis would have faced additional direct costs of 187.6 billion dollars. Under the current rates, the 82.3 billion dollars would be equivalent on average to 2,080 dollars per employee or 3.1 percent of the average annual payroll. Those averages include firms that don't import goods and those that do. Asked Tuesday how trade talks are faring, Trump said simply: 'Everything's going well.' The president has indicated that he will set tariff rates given the logistical challenge of negotiating with so many nations. As the 90-day period comes to a close, only the UK has signed a trade framework with the Trump administration. India and Vietnam have signaled that they're close to a trade framework. There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that more inflation could surface. The investment bank Goldman Sachs said in a report that it expects companies to pass along 60 percent of their tariff costs onto consumers. The Atlanta Federal Reserve has used its survey of businesses' inflation expectations to say that companies could on average pass along roughly half their costs from a 10 percent tariff or a 25 percent tariff without reducing consumer demand. The JPMorgan Chase Institute findings suggest that the tariffs could cause some domestic manufacturers to strengthen their roles as suppliers of goods. But it noted that companies need to plan for a range of possible outcomes and that wholesalers and retailers already operate on such low profit margins that they might need to spread the tariffs' costs to their customers. The outlook for tariffs remains highly uncertain. Trump had stopped negotiations with Canada only to restart them after the country dropped its plan to tax digital services. He similarly on Monday threatened more tariffs on Japan unless it buys more rice from the US. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a Tuesday interview that the concessions from the trade talks have impressed career officials at the Office of the US Trade Representative and other agencies. 'People who have been at Treasury, at Commerce, at USTR for 20 years are saying that these are deals like they've never seen before,' Bessent said on Fox News Channel's 'Fox & Friends.' The treasury secretary said the Trump administration plans to discuss the contours of trade deals next week, prioritizing the tax cuts package passed on Tuesday by the Republican majority in the Senate. Trump has set a Friday deadline for passage of the multitrillion-dollar package, the costs of which the president hopes to offset with tariff revenues.
Arab News
42 minutes ago
- Arab News
Saudi Power Procurement Co. signs $458m wind power deal for Yanbu project
RIYADH: Saudi Power Procurement Co. has signed a power purchase agreement for the 700-megawatt Yanbu Wind Power Project, backed by an investment exceeding SR1.7 billion ($458 million). The deal was finalized with a consortium made up of Japan's Marubeni Corp. and the Kingdom's Abdulaziz Al-Ajlan Sons for Commercial and Real Estate Investment Co. the Saudi Press Agency reported. This aligns with the Kingdom's National Renewable Energy Program, a strategic framework overseen by the government and designed to diversify the Kingdom's power sources. The SPA reported that the project will help in 'maximizing economic returns by contributing to the displacement of liquid fuels used in electricity production, and achieving the optimal energy mix for electricity production' so the share of renewable energy sources will reach approximately 50 percent of the national mix by the end of the decade. Renewables capacity in Saudi Arabia is planned to reach between 100 gigawatts and 130 GW by 2030, significantly increasing the nationwide supply of solar and wind energy. The Yanbu Wind Power Project will be situated in the Madinah region and is expected to generate electricity at a cost of SR0.06 per kilowatt‑hour, according to SPA. This competitive tariff highlights the increasing cost-effectiveness of renewable energy technologies in Saudi Arabia. SPPC is responsible for managing the Kingdom's electricity sourcing processes. This includes conducting feasibility studies, organizing competitive tenders for power generation projects, and entering into agreements to purchase electricity from independent power producers. In November, the company signed agreements for five independent energy projects in the Kingdom, which have a total capacity of 9.2 GW. The new power generation projects include two thermal energy plants, Rumah and Al Nairyah, and the Al Sadawi Solar Photovoltaic Project. The Rumah and Al Nairyah facilities will utilize the flexible combined cycle gas turbine technology for their operations, and are designed to incorporate carbon capture units, contributing a combined 7.2 GW to the national grid. Both facilities are scheduled to begin commercial operations by the second quarter of 2028.
