Pakistani nationals not being allowed to board flights

• Pakistani nationals not being allowed to board flights
• Passengers protest non-cooperation by airline
• Passengers say they have negative COVID-19 test results

LONDON: Pakistani nationals looking to fly back to the country have not been able to board flights at the Heathrow Airport. 

airlines have refused to fly back passengers despite Pakistan government’s directives that Pakistani passport-holders and students would be allowed to travel to the country , provided they hold a negative coronavirus test conducted within 72 hours of the travel time. 

The passengers, however, are not being allowed to board flights even with a negative COVID-19 test result. They staged a protest over the non-cooperation of the airlines at the Heathrow Airport. 

Countries including Pakistan placed travel restrictions and closed their borders to the United Kingdom after a new strain of the coronavirus was detected earlier this month. 

The new strain, referred to by some experts as the B.1.17 lineage, is not the first variant of COVID-19 pandemic, but it is said to be up to 70% more transmissible than the previously dominant strain in the UK.