A flight from Islamabad to Dubai was among several delayed after Pakistan International Airlines’ operations were disrupted overnight. The PIA said that a “derecognized entity”, Society of Aircraft Engineers of Pakistan (SAEP), in order to pressurize the management, tried to halt operations during late hours on Monday.
PIA’s flight operations were disrupted across the country Monday night after the engineers’ group refused to issue clearances to aircrafts, claiming that they could not compromise on travel safety, Dawn reported. The SAEP stated there was no strike from their side and the engineers were only adhering to mandatory safety and certification protocols.
“Management team along with key post holders of Engineering Dept. immediately responded. By using alternative means and working tirelessly overnight and the day, restored the ops, thus mitigating the impact of already delayed flights for subsequent operations,” the PIA said in a statement on X.
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They shared the list of flights that were affected by the disruption. Among them was a flight from Islamabad to Dubai, which was delayed by nine hours.
According to the PIA, a total of seven flights — three from Islamabad, two from Karachi, and one each from Lahore and Sialkot — departed after delays ranging from four to 14 hours.
Meanwhile, five flights were canceled by readjusting the load, and alternates were offered to the passengers. “PIA would like to ensure that flight operations are being fully restored and customer convenience is our utmost priority and that our operations run smoothly,” they said.
