Heavy snowfall: PIA plane trapped after landing at Quetta airport

QUETTA: An aircraft of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has trapped after landing amid heavy snowfall due to non-availability of de-icing equipment at Quetta airport, ARY News reported on Monday.

The Jeddah-Quetta plane was trapped after the heavy snowfall started when it landed at the airport.

The airport administration has found no solution to clear the runway as the necessary chemicals and equipment are not available to the technical staff. The plane is trapped the airport since the last 24 hours which affects schedule of other flights.

PIA spokesperson Abdullah Khan said that the technical staff need de-icing equipment to clear the aircraft and its engine which were not available to the Quetta airport. The provision of the de-icing facility is the responsibility of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to void creating disturbance to the passengers due to delay in flight schedules and damages to the aircraft.

The spokesperson added that the passengers were provided accommodation at hotel and the administration is also providing the people necessary information.

Read: PIA changes flight schedule for Dubai owing to bad weather

He added that many domestic flights from Quetta airports have been postponed due to the current weather conditions. The flights include PK-325 and 326 Islamabad-Quetta-Islamabad, PK-310 and 311 from Karachi-Quetta-Karachi and PK-8363 from Quetta-Karachi.

The flights will be resumed after betterment of weather and the passengers were advised to contact PIA call centres for getting further information, he said.