PIA cancels six flights due to operational issues

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has cancelled six flights today due to operational issues.

According to the flight schedule, delays have also affected the arrival and departure of 25 domestic and international flights to and from various airports across the country.

The cancelled flights include PIA’s PK 302 and PK 303 from Lahore to Karachi, as well as PK 293 from Multan to Sharjah.

Additionally, flight PK 182 from Sharjah to Islamabad and two flights from Islamabad to Chitral—PK 660 and PK 661—have also been cancelled.

Furthermore, delays have impacted three flights from Islamabad to Jeddah, operated by both PIA and a private airline. PIA's flight PK 233 from Lahore to Dubai is facing a delay of one and a half hours, while a private airline's flight ER 523 from Lahore to Karachi will depart over three hours late.

Flights arriving from Kuwait, Sharjah, and Qassim to Islamabad are also expected to experience delays of one to two hours.

Last week, the national flag carrier temporarily suspended its flights to Turkiye, according to sources.

The flight operations were halted on September 28 due to the PIA's failure to pay for required inventory and airport slots at Istanbul Airport. No PIA flights will operate to Turkiye until October 13.

Currently, the PIA operates four weekly flights to Turkiye from Islamabad and Lahore.

Inventory refers to the seats or cargo space available for sale on an airline's flights, and its management involves controlling availability, pricing, and bookings to maximize revenue.

On September 29, a PIA flight from Muscat to Peshawar made an emergency landing in Karachi due to a technical failure.

Flight PK 260 took off from Muscat at 5:22 AM local time, but experienced a technical malfunction 30 minutes after departure while in Pakistani airspace, Express News reported,

According to sources, as the flight was passing over Turbat, a malfunction occurred in the aircraft's hydraulic system, following which the plane descended from an altitude of 36,000 feet to 8,000 feet within seven minutes.