AGL 40.01 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.02%)
AIRLINK 187.98 Increased By ▲ 9.91 (5.57%)
BOP 10.12 Increased By ▲ 0.16 (1.61%)
CNERGY 7.11 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (2.45%)
DCL 10.15 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.59%)
DFML 41.57 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DGKC 107.91 Increased By ▲ 1.02 (0.95%)
FCCL 39.00 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.08%)
FFBL 82.02 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (0.16%)
FFL 14.90 Increased By ▲ 1.20 (8.76%)
HUBC 119.46 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (0.18%)
HUMNL 14.05 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.36%)
KEL 6.40 Increased By ▲ 0.49 (8.29%)
KOSM 8.07 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.12%)
MLCF 49.47 Increased By ▲ 1.37 (2.85%)
NBP 73.66 Increased By ▲ 0.83 (1.14%)
OGDC 204.85 Increased By ▲ 11.09 (5.72%)
PAEL 33.56 Increased By ▲ 1.41 (4.39%)
PIBTL 8.07 Increased By ▲ 0.05 (0.62%)
PPL 185.41 Increased By ▲ 11.34 (6.51%)
PRL 33.61 Increased By ▲ 1.01 (3.1%)
PTC 27.39 Increased By ▲ 2.12 (8.39%)
SEARL 119.82 Decreased By ▼ -5.14 (-4.11%)
TELE 9.69 Increased By ▲ 0.27 (2.87%)
TOMCL 35.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.25%)
TPLP 12.25 Increased By ▲ 0.63 (5.42%)
TREET 20.26 Increased By ▲ 1.84 (9.99%)
TRG 60.78 Increased By ▲ 0.29 (0.48%)
UNITY 37.99 Decreased By ▼ -0.22 (-0.58%)
WTL 1.65 Decreased By ▼ -0.01 (-0.6%)
BR100 11,772 No Change 0 (0%)
BR30 36,584 No Change 0 (0%)
KSE100 110,810 No Change 0 (0%)
KSE30 34,429 No Change 0 (0%)
Pakistan Print 2023-03-26

PIA’s sudden change of destination decision perturbs passengers

  • Cash-starved airline will have to bear the cost of accommodating nearly 180 passengers after change
Published March 26, 2023

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Saturday made a sudden and unexpected decision to change the destination of its flight PK 860 from Jeddah to Lahore, leaving passengers, who were originally scheduled to fly to Karachi, confused and stranded.

The airline did not provide any explanation for this abrupt change; however, the passengers affected by this decision faced with the difficult task of reorganizing their travel plans to reach their final destinations.

When contacted, PIA spokesman confirmed that the national flag carrier would accommodate these passengers on its flight PK 762, scheduled to reach Karachi on Sunday evening, a day later than the original schedule.

As a result of this sudden change in the flight’s destination, the cash-starved airline will have to bear the cost of accommodating nearly 180 passengers adjusted to the new flight PK-762 in Jeddah during peak Ramazan month, putting an additional financial burden on this already loss-making PIA.

Meanwhile, sources were of the view that PIA has a history of taking such business unfriendly decisions to please VIPs without bothering its passengers’ convenience, and they believed that the same happened this time, but no reason behind this particular decision is confirmed till the filing of this report.

PIA spokesman said that it was done due to aircraft shortage and added that PK 830 had to be rerouted from Jeddah to Lahore instead of Karachi due to unavoidable operational reasons. Passengers from Jeddah to Karachi will be brought by PK 732 tomorrow. Passengers were informed about the matter. However, the passengers who still reached the airport are being provided hotel accommodation and food.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023

Comments

Comments are closed.

Aircraft Driver Mar 26, 2023 03:34am
This was not due to the VIPs. Don’t misguide. PIA has serious shortage of Pilots. Supreme Court is not allowing PIA to hire Pilots. These cancellations are due to the serious shortage of pilots.
thumb_up Recommended (0)
KhanRA Mar 26, 2023 07:26am
There was probably a VIP government official who needed to go to Lahore, and so the entire flight was diverted. This is not unknown to PIA. I once was on a flight from Karachi that had an unannounced layover in Islamabad before going BACK to Karachi because a government official had to travel from ISB to KHI.
thumb_up Recommended (0)
Aircraft Driver Mar 26, 2023 04:51pm
@KhanRA, no sir this is due to the serious shortage PIA is facing. Pilots have resigned and joined other carriers. Many resignations have not been yet approved by PIA and Supreme Court is not letting them to hire more crew. Blame SC not Government.
thumb_up Recommended (0)
Faisal Muhammad Baloch Mar 27, 2023 12:44am
Whatever the reason they should plan accordingly and avoid inconvenience to masses.
thumb_up Recommended (0)