Air Safari flight: PIA CEO pays over Rs2m for 43 passengers on board

CJP had taken notice of illegal use of a PIA aircraft for an air safari on the Nanga Parbat

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airline (PIA) Chief Musharraf Rasool Cyan on Saturday paid for the airfare of 43 passengers for the inaugural Air Safari flight from Islamabad to Skardu.

The tickets were worth Rs2.38 million. The country's national carrier revealed that a sum of Rs1.4 million was extracted from the CEO's salary while the remaining Rs900,000 were paid via cheque.

Earlier, the Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar took suo motu notice over illegal use of a PIA aircraft for an air safari on the Nanga Parbat. The incident surfaced last month, when Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and PIA officials were accused of delaying a flight carry VIP passengers from Islamabad on an air safari comprising the K-2, Nanga Parbat and other mountain peaks.



The original travel route was from Skardu to Islamabad but due to the unscheduled Air Safari, the flight was delayed causing inconvenience to scores of passengers who suffered the consequences of the delay.

On July 29, Cyan discarded the option of privatising PIA, terming it a bad idea keeping in view the current state of affairs. Instead, Cyan chalked out a plan for the revival and expansion of the airline by flying to strategic locations and acquiring new aircraft. He will present the plan to the new government.