Late departure: Passengers protest over delay in flight

PIA says delay was caused as 60 to 65 passengers, including a federal minister, had not turned up

KARACHI: Passengers of a Jeddah-bound flight of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) on Monday protested at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport after they learned the departure was allegedly delayed due to a federal minister.

But PIA spokesman Rana Hanif said around 60 to 65 passengers had not turned up at the airport on time and Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Muhammad Yousaf was only one of them.

“Everything you have heard on social media is exaggerated. I can personally vouch for the minister that he is not the kind of person who would hold an entire flight,” he said.



He said the Islamabad authorities had shut off intersections on the road leading up to the airport as part of security measures. “As a consequence people have to drive another three kilometers for a U-turn to make it to the airport.”

He said the 221-seat flight could not take off without such a large number of passengers.

“We have completely stopped the tradition of waiting for government officials,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27^th, 2015.