PIA accused of Allegedly Delaying the Flight to privilege the Privileged
The Skardu-Islamabad flight was to take flight at 12:30 PM but was delayed to cater VIPs.
(WebDesk) - Protestation by the tourists and the passengers came forth at Skardu airport after a four-hour delay in Skardu-Islamabad flight on Tuesday. The Pakistan International Airline (PIA) is accused of allegedly delaying the flights to favor the officials of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) with an air safari tour.
The Skardu-Islamabad flight was scheduled to take flight at 12:30 PM sharp. However, what followed next was the delay of a long and exhausting four hours which troubled the passengers greatly. The Sources said that the flight coming from Islamabad that was bound to take the passengers back to Islamabad from Skardu was holding CAA officials and Gilgil-Baltistan senior PML-N member Akbar Taban on board.
The normal flight time between these two destinations is just 45 minutes however the passengers had to keep waiting for straight four hours after the issuance of boarding passes. Passengers travelling on this flight were displeased and furious on this abrupt delay and took to social media to express their anger.
— Maryam Multani (@MaryamMultani) July 18, 2018
— Abbas Malik (@AbbasMalik13) July 18, 2018
The passenger, whose video went viral for lashing out at CCA Hassan Baig, complained the media sources about not receiving any compensation from the airlines as per their promise.
Sources told that DG AA accompanied a group of friends to undertake a special tour of Nanga Parbat on a PIA plane and the meanwhile they took this special tour, the passengers waited for the scheduled flight. When finally, the plane landed on Skardu, the passengers were livid and lashed out on DG CAA Hassan Baig.
Meanwhile, CCA Director General Hassan Baig ,denied the entire allegation of using plane for private tour and mentioned that he went to air safari on the invitation of PIA CEO and has nothing to do with this whole delaying fiasco.
After, this incident PIA also released a press statement to clarify its own stance in this situation of turmoil. PIA Mentioned that the flight were subject to be delayed due to unfavorable weather which was earlier mentioned on the tickets.
PIA spokesperson,Mr. Tajwar also added that a text message was sent to the passengers regarding the flight status. Referring to the complaints of passengers regarding the unavailability of facilities like washrooms and air-conditioners, the PIA mentioned that it would work with the relevant authorities to improve it.
— PIA (@Official_PIA) July 17, 2018
The Supreme Court of Pakistan itself took notice of the difficulties bared by the passengers. It has directed the DG CCA and PIA to submit the report of the incident within 48 hours.
By: Fatima Hassani
