PIA spokesman Abdullah Khan said in a statement that the service was a “special flight” to create “goodwill” with the people of Afghanistan and to “strengthen humanitarian efforts.”
The spokesman clarified to CNN that “it was not an aid flight.”
PIA said the Boeing 777 plane took off from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, at 6:45 local time after Afghan civil aviation authorities and PIA staff had made special arrangements.
Foreign journalists traveled to the Afghan capital during the flight while World Bank employees were returned to Islamabad back, the spokesman told CNN.
These flights indicate that at least some foreign nationals who want to leave Afghanistan will be able to do so, after weeks of uncertainty. Civilians have had no trouble finding the country’s safe passage since the Taliban’s capture in mid-August confused a U.S.-led evacuation effort.
