With a daunting backlog, PIA resumes operations

PIA resumes its operations, after the joint action committee called off the strike.

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airline (PIA) resumed its operations on Saturday, after the joint action committee called off the strike, with the first flight departing for New York from Allama Iqbal International airport, Lahore.

The flight, PK 711, took off at 6:50 am from Lahore, said PIA spokesperson Mashhood Tajwar adding the first flight from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi took off at 7 am for Islamabad

By late Saturday evening, more than 80 flights, including 35 international and 45 domestic, had been operated on schedule, he said.

Passengers with tickets from the past four days will not be charged extra when they are accommodated while those who wish to cancel their tickets will be offered a complete refund, the spokesperson said, adding that the existing backlog will take a few days to clear.

The pilots who were sacked by the PIA management during the protests returned to perform their duties on Saturday, Tajwar added.

While flights from Islamabad to the Middle East resumed, most Europe-bound flights were cancelled due to bad weather, officials said.

Air travel from Islamabad to Northern areas, including Gilgit and Skardu, also remained suspended due to bad weather.

Meanwhile, PIA employees said the management was still trying to disrupt the operations and blame the employees for disturbances at the airports.

The leadership of the joint action committee of PIA employee unions had announced the resumption of airline operations from Friday midnight, after successful negotiations with the government.

Briefing the media later, Federal Minister for Defence Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said the estimate of losses borne by the airline during the four-day-long strike would be compiled soon.

With additional reporting by Shahram Haq in Lahore and Umer Daraz in Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 13^th, 2011.