Delays have also affected the arrival and departure of 25 domestic and international flights across the country
In addition to the six cancelled flights, several other PIA services experienced significant delays. Three flights from Islamabad to Jeddah, operated by both PIA and a private airline, were affected by delays. PIA’s PK 233 from Lahore to Dubai was delayed by an hour and a half, while the private airline’s ER 523 flight from Lahore to Karachi was postponed by over three hours. Incoming flights from Kuwait, Sharjah, and Qassim to Islamabad also faced delays ranging from one to two hours.
PIA’s operational challenges were further highlighted last week when it temporarily suspended its flights to Turkiye on September 28 due to unpaid fees for inventory and airport slots at Istanbul Airport. This suspension will remain in place until October 13, disrupting four weekly flights from Islamabad and Lahore to Turkiye.
The airline also faced an emergency situation on September 29, when a PIA flight (PK 260) from Muscat to Peshawar had to make an emergency landing in Karachi due to a technical issue. The plane, which took off at 5:22 AM local time, encountered a hydraulic malfunction 30 minutes into the flight while flying over Pakistani airspace near Turbat. The aircraft descended rapidly from 36,000 feet to 8,000 feet in just seven minutes before safely landing in Karachi.
