This is perhaps, the first step taken by PIA's management, to appease its loyal clients. PIA used to offer this facility a couple of years back, but for reasons best known to it, the management unilaterally withdrew it.
This singular step will generate more goodwill, than all the publicity launched by PIA for decades on the electronic and print media.
One only hopes that, the Pakistani expatriate community will use it with discretion, and only those who cannot afford it, utilise this complimentary offer.
It is also time that PIA, acknowledges the fact, that its clients are the expatriate Pakistanis, belonging to lower middle class, bulk of whom originate from the rural areas of Azad Kashmir, Punjab, Frontier, Balochistan and interior Sindh.
This group of Pakistanis migrated to Europe, in search of livelihood.
Unfortunately jobs in Pakistan are given only on Sifarish or to the kith and kin of our civil and uniformed bureaucracy.
We continue to maintain our links with our motherland and frequently visit it for holidays, marriages etc.
Since our brothers and sisters reside in Pakistan, we also send back a portion of our savings to help them.
However we are loyal to our adopted countries which not only gave us jobs, but basic human rights like freedom of expression, choice and right to voice our dissent.
For this noble gesture, we are grateful to the PM and Chairman PIA. We are also proud of the fact, that we are not part of that elite group of Pakistanis, who after making millions/billions, have transferred their assets abroad and acquired foreign nationalities or residential status.
It is this group, which perhaps was instrumental in withdrawing this noble gesture of complimentary carriage of coffins of expatriate Pakistanis by PIA.
PIA recently diverted some of its flights from Manchester, to facilitate those green card holders/US nationals of Pakistani origin, who hold such status prior to 1998, and were now required to have a transit visa, on flights bound to USA via UK.
This step was taken by PIA management on its own. People like us, who are loyal to PIA, would only request them to offer more direct flights bound for Islamabad, Lahore, with convenient connections for Faisalabad, Peshawar, Sukkur etc.