Islamabad-bound PIA flight leaves 41 passengers behind in Madina

RIYADH: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight departed for Islamabad from Madina airport leaving at least 40 passengers behind, ARY News reported.

Sources said the PIA flight (PK-714) took off from Madina airport leaving 40 passengers, including women, behind to fend for themselves.

The passengers expressed anger and anguish at PIA officials over their negligence and causing hardships for them.

Sources at the airport said the plane was small due to which these passengers couldn’t be accommodated.  They claimed that the national flag carrier had not even arranged for a hotel for the stranded passengers to stay until they are brought back home by another flight.

It is pertinent to mention here that Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier on Jan 1 directed the PIA chairman to devise a comprehensive business plan to overcome losses incurred by the national flag carrier.

Chairing a high-level meeting on reforms in PIA, the prime minister said that the government wanted to make national flag carrier a profit-generating and independent airline.

PIA officials informed the prime minister that the total losses of PIA are Rs. 414.3bn. They told the meeting that PIA is facing a deficit of 500 million rupees on seven international routes in addition to loss on domestic routes.