Passengers of seized PIA aircraft complain lack of cooperation by embassy officials, airline staff

(Karachi) All stranded passengers of the Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) aircraft which was seized in Malaysia returned to their homeland amid complaints, local media reported on Sunday. The passengers complained against the Pakistani embassy officials and PIA staff over their failure to cooperate with them.

As per details, the passengers arrived at Islamabad International Airport by foreign airlines’ flight EK-614 and QR-632 Saturday night. The passengers reportedly piled up complaints against Pakistani embassy officials in Malaysia and the PIA staff, saying the PIA and the diplomatic staff did not cooperate with them.

They added that they were not provided food or any sort of accommodation. The passengers also complained that they slept on the floor of the Kuala Lumpur Airport for two days.

Earlier, the PIA plane was held back by Malaysian authorities due to a British court case over the jet’s lease. The Boeing 777 aircraft was seized after a court order. The case involved a $14 million lease dispute.

The PIA plane was taken on lease from a Vietnamese company in 2015. The national flag carrier’s spokesman said that the matter is under hearing at British court.

Moreover, Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan had claimed that PIA acquired the plane on expensive lease during tenure of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) term.

The aviation minister said that PIA failed to pay lease on time due to coronavirus pandemic but Malaysian court issued order without listening to arguments of the airline.

PIA will appear before London court on January 22 and in Malaysian court on January 24, he further added.