PIA restores flight operations to Bangladesh

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Monday restored its flight operations to Bangladesh after a week-long suspension.

The flights to Dhaka were suspended on February 25 to protest against ‘harassment’ of PIA crew and passengers by Bangladeshi security personnel.

PIA spokesperson Rana Muhammad Hanif said the national airline had approached the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to resolve the matter with the Bangladesh government. “The ministry has settled the issue and resultantly the first flight - PK-266 - took off today at 9am from Karachi to the Bangladeshi capital,” he said.

PIA operates five flights a week from Karachi to Dhaka.

“Hopefully, the operations will continue smoothly,” Rana said, adding that he has no information of any problem so far. “The flight is scheduled to return to Karachi at 4:15pm and the crew can tell us better about the renewed operation,” the spokesperson said.

Bangladeshi intelligence officers had reportedly been harassing PIA officials for the past two months. PIA Station Manager Ali Abbass was once held by the security forces in Bangladesh and was later deported to Pakistan. Several raids were also conducted on the houses of PIA officials on suspicion of smuggling fake currency.