Dubai, June 24: Emirates, one of the leading aviation companies in the world, announced a temporary suspension of passenger services to and from Pakistan. The Dubai-based airline said the termination of operations is only for interim period, and efforts were underway to resume the passenger flights at the earliest. Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan Among Seven New Pakistan Cricketers to Test Positive for COVID-19.

Emirates, till the past week, had been operating flights from Pakistan to Dubai despite the coronavirus pandemic. The decision to suspend the passenger services was preceded by 26 Pakistani travellers testing positive for the contagious disease.

The 26 passengers had boarded the flight to Hong Kong from Islamabad via Dubai on June 20. They boarded their flight in Dubai and boarded another aircraft of Emirates for Hong Kong. After landing, they were tested positive for COVID-19.

"Following the announcement of positive Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong relating to certain passengers who travelled on our flights, Emirates has taken the decision to temporarily suspend passenger services from Pakistan, from June 24," Khaleej Times reported the Emirates spokesperson as saying.

The cargo planes for commercial purposes will ply between Dubai and Pakistan, and vice versa, as per the schedule, the carrier said in a statement which was reported by the Pakistani media. The regular passenger services could resume as early as the next week, Dawn reported.

Pakistan remains one of the severely hit nations in South Asia due to the coronavirus pandemic. The overall tally of infections surged to 187,400 on Monday. According to Prime Minister Imran Khan, the number of cases would continue to multiple by early August, when the country is expected to reach the COVID-19 peak.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 24, 2020 11:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).