National News
Post-Hajj:PIA continues tradition of delayed flights
Posted on: Mon November 14, 2011
National Highlights
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) continued its tradition of delayed Hajj flights on Monday, making relatives of pilgrims wait for hours at different airports.
Flight PK- 2508 carrying pilgrims from Jeddah to Islamabad reached after a delay of more than five hours.
The flight took off five hours later than the expected time from Jeddah.
Flights coming to Lahore experienced the same fate.
The Hajj flight PK-206 reached Lahore airport after a delay of eight hours. Another flight that came to Lahore was more than 11 hours late.
Such delays are posing great difficulties for the relatives of the pilgrims as they are forced to spent several hours at airports.
No VIP treatment
The Pakistan International Airlines demonstrated that it treats VIPs and regular citizens alike as MNAs flights were also delayed.
At the Karachi airport, a special Hajj flight carrying 65 parliamentarians landed after a delay of eight hours. Talking to the media at the airport, most parliamentarians lamented the provision of poor services to citizens.
They said the flight was delayed despite the presence of such a large number of parliamentarians. They also pointed out the language barrier at the PIA"s terminals at Saudi airports.
On the other hand, the Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Khurshid Shah jumped to defend the national flag carrier.
Talking to media, he blamed the issue of excessive luggage for the delayed flights, which according to him was purely a passenger-created problem.
He also pointed out that the issue had marred the services of 36 international airlines involved in the Hajj operations.
Courtesy: The Express Tribune