PIA apologises for forgetting coffins at NY airport

ISLAMABAD: A day after Pakistan International Airlines left behind two coffins at a New York airport, which were meant to be flown to Lahore, the national carrier has apologised on Wednesday for the latest embarrassing mishap.

The oversight occurred on Saturday at New York's JFK airport as the airline prepared for its final flight from the US city to Lahore via Manchester, with the route since suspended due to financial losses.

Following the mix-up, the body of deceased Pakistani, Nasir Ali, was delivered to Lahore Wednesday on a Etihad Airways flight, while the family of another man, Nauman Badar, was instead buried in Maryland after the mishap.

PIA Chairman Musharraf Rasool Cyan has ordered an inquiry into the oversight, the company spokesman told AFP. "PIA regrets the inconvenience caused due to negligence... and expresses its sympathies with the family members of the deceased persons," a spokesman for the airline said in a statement.

PIA was once considered a global leader in commercial aviation until the 1970s.