Private airlines up fares as PIA in a fix

Increase their domestic fares by up to 30%

LAHORE/ KARACHI:

Taking advantage of the state-run Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) fuel crisis, private air carriers have increased their fares.

According to travel agents, private airlines have started charging an additional fare of up to 30% on domestic flights.

During the PIA’s crisis, private airlines have started charging passengers up to Rs77,000 for a return ticket to Karachi.

They are charging the one-way fare from Karachi to Lahore between Rs35,000 and Rs49,000.

Similarly, the private airlines have jacked up their one-way fare from Karachi to Islamabad to between Rs55,000 and Rs61,000.

The private airlines could not hike the fares of international flights because of the decrease in the number of overseas passengers.

Besides, foreign airlines have also reduced their fares on international routes.

The PIA’s domestic flight schedule had been adversely affected for the last one week.

The travel agents said that the number of passengers travelling domestically had increased because of the disruption of national airline’s flights.

Read also: PIA cancels another two dozen flights

On the other hand, the private airlines said there had been a difference in demand and supply because of the additional number of passengers.

The passengers have demanded that the government should fully resume the flights of the national airline.

The Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has refused to provide jet fuel to the cash-strapped PIA over the lack of payment of its outstanding dues, adding to the national flag carrier’s serious financial woes.

The current fuel crisis has led to the cancellation of more than 19 national and international flights by the PIA, with over 20 domestic and international flights experiencing unusual delays.

The PIA flights from Lahore to Islamabad, scheduled to depart on Wednesday night, were unable to take off. Karachi to Islamabad flights PK 368 and PK 369 were also cancelled.

The flight from Karachi to Lahore was delayed by more than four hours. Flights to Islamabad from Dubai were delayed by over 3.5 hours. The flight from Islamabad to Abu Dhabi, scheduled for 3:40 pm, was delayed by 3:40 hours.

Flight PK 283 from Peshawar to Dubai was delayed by more than 10 hours. Similarly, flight PK 257 from Peshawar to Sharjah experienced a delay of eight hours.

Flight PK 325 from Islamabad to Quetta was delayed by more than nine hours. Flight PK 301 from Karachi to Islamabad was delayed by 2.5 hours. Peshawar to Riyadh flight PK 727 was delayed by five hours.

Read: Financial crisis takes a toll on PIA passengers

Flight PK 223 from Faisalabad to Dubai was delayed by 15 hours. Flight PK765 from Multan to Riyadh was delayed by nine hours. Flight PK 715 from Multan to Madina was delayed by three hours. Flight PK 739 from Multan to Jeddah was delayed by three hours.

Flights from Sialkot to Jeddah and Sharjah experienced delays of over nine hours.

On Tuesday, PIA's Karachi to Turbat flight PK 501, scheduled to depart at 7 am, was rescheduled for 1 pm because of the delayed fuel supply.

An Islamabad to Karachi flight, scheduled to depart at 7 am, took off after a 3-hour delay. Similarly, the Lahore to Islamabad flight scheduled at 7 am was delayed by 2.5 hours. The flights of the national airline from Islamabad to Dubai also experienced several hours of delay.

Over 14 flights were cancelled on Monday because of the lack of fuel.

The PIA on Thursday paid Rs150 million to the PSO purchase fuel for 33 flights, most of them on international routes.

After the current situation, the PIA is increasing the amount of money to buy fuel from the PSO.

The national flag carrier had paid Rs100 million, Rs125 million, and Rs150 million to the PSO on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, respectively.

However, the airline will need to pay at least Rs100 million to the PSO daily to continue normal operations.