Discussion on covid test requirement to exit Pakistan

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nomiiiii
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Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2020 5:57 pm

Discussion on covid test requirement to exit Pakistan

Post by nomiiiii »

As we know, currently all international flights require a covid test result when leaving Pakistan. This is true even if the destination itself does not require a covid test (e.g. USA or UK or Turkey among many other countries do not require a covid test result on arrival, and anyone transiting Qatar typically doesn't require a covid test except if they're flying from Pakistan and then transiting through Qatar).

Do we know who exactly is the actual authority which resulted in requiring this test - is it CAA, if yes is there a link to their SOPs around this?
Or is it that every single airline came up with this rule for pakistan-exit even though CAA isn't requiring it (emirates, turkish, qatar etc), because in most cases these airlines only apply the rule of the destination country but exit Pakistan has this extra rule imposed. I'm curious what benefit is it for the airlines to impose this extra rule and impact the sales of their own tickets.

More-over, whether it is CAA or the airlines, clearly this must be impacting their sales and hurting the local travel agent who are representatives of these airlines (because not everyone can easily get the test, it is an extra hassle, a positive result means lots of last-minute cancellation and changes) - do we have any chatter/rumors/idea among the sales agents etc on when this extra exit-pakistan-test requirement will be relaxed, specially if the destination itself does not require a covid test (e.g. flying Pakistan to US/UK/Turkey making one exempt from the test requirement)

To be clear, I'm not talking about the case where the destination country itself requires a covid result (like Saudi Arabia etc), but in cases where the destination doesn't have any covid result requirement for anyone, but this extra special rule just exists for those leaving pakistan.
baberblues
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Re: Discussion on covid test requirement to exit Pakistan

Post by baberblues »

So from what I think, this is an airline implementation, however British Airways does not require a covid test as of yet. Secondly, maybe its just for safety measures, as recently there was a story that was ran in the papers that 20 pakistani's going to hong kong tested positive on the flight. However, i believe its not pakistan that has implemented this but many countries are doing the same thing. yes it is inconvenient however safety of everyone is important, and I would rather everyone tested negative on my flight than having to deal with repercussions with someone who is asymptomatic or positive and can spread the virus.

Secondly, i only know of Emirates that requires a covid 19 test to board any of their flights across their network. To be honest, the test is around 6000 rupees which is not bad, and shouldn't really have an effect on prices.
nomiiiii
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Joined: Fri Sep 18, 2020 5:57 pm

Re: Discussion on covid test requirement to exit Pakistan

Post by nomiiiii »

Even Emirates does not require a test to board every plane across their network e.g. if you take a flight Dubai - NewYork, you're not required to have a test.

I'm glad to hear that British doesn't have this requirement so far to exit pakistan, I'll book with them.

I understand your concerns about safety, but a bigger concern for me is that for some reason the test result is delayed or test result comes back positive and then I'm stuck in Pakistan instead of being able to leave the country, which can be a very expensive problem.
Zulfiqar
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Re: Discussion on covid test requirement to exit Pakistan

Post by Zulfiqar »

nomiiiii wrote: Sat Sep 19, 2020 4:36 am I understand your concerns about safety, but a bigger concern for me is that for some reason the test result is delayed or test result comes back positive and then I'm stuck in Pakistan instead of being able to leave the country, which can be a very expensive problem.
If you test positive ( hope it’s not the case) then you risk infecting others. Is it not better to stay put than putting others at risk of something more serious.?

I travelled in QR last month to UK. I did not have any qualms about the test. There is a small chance of testing positive , especially if you stay safe and take recommended precautions.
Last edited by Zulfiqar on Sat Sep 19, 2020 11:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
baberblues
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Location: Edinburgh

Re: Discussion on covid test requirement to exit Pakistan

Post by baberblues »

nomiiiii wrote: Sat Sep 19, 2020 4:36 am Even Emirates does not require a test to board every plane across their network e.g. if you take a flight Dubai - NewYork, you're not required to have a test.

I'm glad to hear that British doesn't have this requirement so far to exit pakistan, I'll book with them.

I understand your concerns about safety, but a bigger concern for me is that for some reason the test result is delayed or test result comes back positive and then I'm stuck in Pakistan instead of being able to leave the country, which can be a very expensive problem.
Yes you do, look at the emirates airline website, you are required to get a test before you board any emirates flight
nomiiiii
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Re: Discussion on covid test requirement to exit Pakistan

Post by nomiiiii »

baberblues wrote: Sat Sep 19, 2020 10:26 am

Yes you do, look at the emirates airline website, you are required to get a test before you board any emirates flight
Really you don't. For many places. Check Emirates covid-19 hub page on their website, go to restrictions by destination and check USA for NYC. No test requirement mentioned