PIA employees’ strike: Passengers irked by private airline price hikes

Anger expressed at pricing, confusion over ticket transfer proposal

ISLAMABAD:

While Pakistan International Airline (PIA) remained grounded for another day, due to the ongoing strike by airline staff, private airlines are still being accused of overcharging.

The announcement by the PIA management about arrangements with private airlines to ferry stranded PIA passengers at a ‘mutually agreed fares’ has proven problematic, as passengers complained about being ‘excessive charges’ by private airliners as the strike began its fourth day.

Domestic and international passengers were compelled to buy tickets on private airlines at exorbitant prices while struggling to find regulators at the airport to lodge complaints about the high fares.

“Private airlines are looting passengers,” said Muhammad Riaz, who was booked for Saudi Arabia on a PIA flight. He was trying to find the appropriate desk to get a refund or transfer his ticket.

He said his visa was going to expire in three days. As he struggled to get his PIA ticket cancelled, he said that a private airliner was demanding three times the fare for the same destination. He said that on the demand of the private airliner, he tried to approach the airport authorities to remedy the issue, but he could not find a single official on duty.

Almost a quarter of international passengers to and from Pakistan use PIA, while 55 per cent of domestic flyers use the airline.

Earlier, a PIA spokesman had said that PIA authorities have finalised an arrangement with Airblue to accommodate passengers with confirmed PIA tickets in Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Dubai, Muscat, Jeddah and Riyadh. According to the PIA spokesperson, an arrangement had also been finalised with Shaheen Air to accommodate passengers booked on PIA. Similarly, it was also announced that passengers with PIA confirmed tickets in foreign countries may contact international airlines in their respective countries for conversion of their PIA tickets. The announcement, however, remained a futile exercise.

When The Express Tribune contacted the Airblue customer service centre, an official said, “We have not received any instruction from the PIA management in this regard and their passengers are not being accommodated”.

CAA Public Relations Joint Director Fariha Tahir Shah said that under the National Civil Aviation Policy 2015, it was the domain of the Competition Commission of Pakistan to check airline fares. She claimed that the CAA has issued notices to private airlines after receiving complaints against overcharging.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 6^th, 2016.