PIA suspends flight operations to Dhaka

Flights will resume only after govt’s green signal

LAHORE: Pakistan International Airlines has suspended its flight operations to Bangladesh in protest against harassment of its crew and passengers by a Bangladeshi security agency over what it calls ‘false accusations’.

“We have suspended flight operations to Bangladesh initially till March 10,” a PIA spokesperson said.

He said PIA will resume operations only after the government gives the green signal. He added that the airline has communicated the details to the government and Pakistan’s foreign ministry has raised the matter with Bangladesh. “The protest will continue till action is taken against the delinquents.”

According to PIA sources, Bangladeshi intelligence officials have been harassing PIA officials for the past three months and have alleged that they were smuggling fake currency notes.

“The other day, Bangladeshi authorities detained a PIA flight on the pretext of security check, which resulted in a three-hour delay in the flight,” the PIA spokesperson said. He said security forces in Bangladesh conducted raids at the residence of PIA station manager in Dhaka, Ali Abbas, while he was on leave in Pakistan and harassed his family, which returned to the country on Tuesday.

“However, the PIA’s country and finance managers are still in Bangladesh along with their families and they will be called back if the deadlock persists,” he said.

PIA operates five flights a week from Karachi to Dhaka. “As many as 1,000 passengers travel to Dhaka in a week. These passengers are going to face a lot of problems due to this suspension,” he added.

Earlier, Bangladeshi authorities also changed procedure of visa issuance and directed travellers to get visa stickers, instead of stamps, from its embassies in Karachi and Islamabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2015.