Angry passengers protest at IIA on being unloaded twice from PIA plane

Angry passengers recorded their protest at the Islamabad International Airport (IIA) after getting disembarked from a national carrier flight twice over a technical fault on Wednesday.

Senator Mir Kabeer Ahmed Muhammad Shahi and Member of Punjab Assembly Abdul Wasay were also aboard the flight. The exasperated passengers were only facilitated on directions of the Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjarani who had landed at IIA on board another flight around the same time.

Sources told The Express Tribune that the Quetta-bound Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight was parked at the runaway around 4:30pm after loading the passengers. However, the pilot was instructed to return to the bay after the identification of a technical fault in the airplane.

The PIA staff disembarked the passengers and accommodated them in the C-3 and C-4 lounges. The engineers were summoned to fix the issue. Later after two hours, the fault was removed and the passengers aboard the flight once again. The airplane was again parked on the runway and was ready to fly. However, the maintenance staff again identified a fault and the entire process was repeated.

The passengers started protesting in the lounge. Meanwhile, Sanjarani arrived at the IIA from a private airliner flight. On witnessing the protesters, he stopped by and listened to their grievances. Following orders of the Senate chairman, the PIA administration accommodated the passengers in a hotel until the repair work was being done. However, the flight was eventually cancelled.

PIA spokesperson could not be reached for comments.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 10^th, 2020.