ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), on Saturday, once again suspended its flights to Afghanistan's capital Kabul until further notice due to insufficient facilities. The national flag carrier had earlier suspended its flights due to lack of proper security arrangements and pandemonium at the Kabul International Airport days after Taliban took over.

The PIA was the only commercial airline that had been connected with Afghanistan to evacuate stranded nationals.

However, the sources said that insufficient facilities and garbage on the runway have become a hindrance to flight operations at the airport.

"There is no cleaning staff, no emigration or security checks at all," said a senior PIA official.

Meanwhile, the last two special flights of PIA, PK-6250 and PA-6254 from Kabul arrived at the New Islamabad Airport on Saturday.

The Boeing 777 carried 300 people, while the A-320 carried 90 passengers including passengers from 10 different countries, diplomatic staff, and World Bank employees among others.

According to the PIA spokesman, the airlines Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Arshad Malik, had also travelled to Kabul to take stock of the situation.

He was in A-320 aircraft. As the plane entered Afghan territory, the Afghanistan Civil Aviation director general welcomed him from the Afghan radio.

Meanwhile, the stranded Pakistanis breathed a sigh of relief after the Torkham border was opened and a large number of Pakistanis stuck in the war-torn country are coming by road instead of waiting for the PIA flights.

Talking to this correspondent, a large number of people complained that the PIA management is not cooperating with the Pakistanis stranded at Kabul airport as their sole priority has so far been airlifting the foreigners catching flights for Pakistan.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021