KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Saturday made a sudden and unexpected decision to change the destination of its flight PK 860 from Jeddah to Lahore, leaving passengers, who were originally scheduled to fly to Karachi, confused and stranded.

The airline did not provide any explanation for this abrupt change; however, the passengers affected by this decision faced with the difficult task of reorganizing their travel plans to reach their final destinations.

When contacted, PIA spokesman confirmed that the national flag carrier would accommodate these passengers on its flight PK 762, scheduled to reach Karachi on Sunday evening, a day later than the original schedule.

As a result of this sudden change in the flight’s destination, the cash-starved airline will have to bear the cost of accommodating nearly 180 passengers adjusted to the new flight PK-762 in Jeddah during peak Ramazan month, putting an additional financial burden on this already loss-making PIA.

Meanwhile, sources were of the view that PIA has a history of taking such business unfriendly decisions to please VIPs without bothering its passengers’ convenience, and they believed that the same happened this time, but no reason behind this particular decision is confirmed till the filing of this report.

PIA spokesman said that it was done due to aircraft shortage and added that PK 830 had to be rerouted from Jeddah to Lahore instead of Karachi due to unavoidable operational reasons. Passengers from Jeddah to Karachi will be brought by PK 732 tomorrow. Passengers were informed about the matter. However, the passengers who still reached the airport are being provided hotel accommodation and food.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023