Tag: PIA

  • PIA prohibits pilots and cabin crew from fasting during Ramzan

    PIA prohibits pilots and cabin crew from fasting during Ramzan

    Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has prohibited its pilots and cabin staff members from fasting during the holy month of Ramzan.

    As per a recent safety notice released by the national flag carrier, fasting is one of the key factors behind diminished human performance.

    The decision is part of the PIA’s in-flight safety measures, which were recently announced by Aamir Bashir, the PIA’s General Manager (GM) of Flight Services.

    In order to meet the physical and psychological demands of flying, a healthy diet is crucial for pilots. Human errors that result in plane crashes can be minimized by focusing on nutrition due to its strong connection with flying performance.

    On-duty pilots and flying crew members should consider several aspects such as tiredness, performance degradation, and refrain from fasting throughout Ramadan, keeping in view the safety of the innocent lives (passengers and other staff).

    In addition to this, the administration has also allowed pilots and cabin crew members to apply for leave who do not wish to give up fasting during the month of Ramadan.

    Read more: Man hacks airline’s website after he lost his baggage

    Lastly, it also noted that non-compliance with the directive could result in the suspension or cancellation of the flying crew’s licenses.

  • Flight from Delhi makes emergency landing in Karachi

    Flight from Delhi makes emergency landing in Karachi

    Qatar Airways flight, QR-579, made an emergency landing at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport on Monday. The flight was on the way to Doha from New Delhi.

    Smoke filled one of the cabins of the Airbus 150.

    According to Geo News, the plane was at a height of 40,000 feet when the fault occurred near Karachi. The flight was circling around for a while when it was decided to make an emergency landing at Jinnah International Airport.

    Other flights including Air Lanka’s UL-183 were delayed, which were supposed to land in Karachi due to emergency circumstances. Qatar Airways flight was made to land on Runway No 1 of the airport. Passengers were shifted to a transit lounge.

    Currently, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) engineers are inspecting the plane.

  • PIA announces special flights for Pak students ‘stranded in Ukraine’

    PIA announces special flights for Pak students ‘stranded in Ukraine’

    Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced special flights to bring back Pakistani students, “stranded in Ukraine.” PIA has scheduled two special flights that will leave tomorrow for Poland.

    “In coordination with FollowPakistan Embassy in Ukraine, PIA has planned repatriation FLTs for Pak Students stranded in Ukraine, the first 2 FLTs wud leave tomorrow for Poland from where they will be repatriated to safety & united with their families. PIA always steps forward when the nation demands,” PIA wrote in a tweet.

    The Pakistan Embassy in Ukraine has managed to evacuate at least 70 students from Kharkiv city. Kharkiv city is one of the main battle grounds between Ukrainian and Russian forces.

  • PIA’s new flight plans for tourist destinations

    PIA’s new flight plans for tourist destinations

    Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has finalised the plan to start direct flights from Balochistan’s Kech district to Turbat city , ARY News reported on Friday.

    This move will enable Pakistanis to travel to the popular tourist destination directly.

    The airline will also operate flights from Quetta to Turbat from February 26.

    It may be noted here that PIA had decided to operate flights between Turbat and Sharjah in January last year. ATR planes will be used for flight operations between Turbat and Sharjah.

    The decision was taken to facilitate citizens to travel to the mountainous areas.

    Moreover, PIA will resume flight operations from Lahore and Karachi to Gilgit and Skardu to promote tourism in the northern areas.

    The national carrier will resume the flight operations on March 13. PIA will operate flights from Lahore to Gilgit and from Karachi to Skardu.

  • Getting direct with Australia: PIA to fly directly down under for the first time

    Getting direct with Australia: PIA to fly directly down under for the first time

    The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced plans to launch two weekly flights to Australia, cutting travel time to and from the country by around one-third, The News reports.

    PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez says that if it (flights to Australia by a Pakistani carrier) happens, it would be happening for the first time.  He said that PIA has conducted a feasibility study, which concluded that it would be beneficial to the airline.

    PIA intends to operate two weekly flights from Karachi and Lahore to Sydney at first. Later, it might also include Islamabad.

    Flights might commence in late March or early April, according to the national carrier. The airline, however, has yet to receive authorisation from the Australian aviation authority.

    Direct flights would shorten a traveler’s flight duration to 12:30 hours and 13 hours, if one is going to Australia or coming to Pakistan respectively.

    Because there are no direct flights between Pakistan and Australia, passengers must travel for 34 to 35 hours with stopovers, which adds to their travel time.

    “Every airline must touch their hub before flying on to their destination,” stated Nadeem Sharif, Chairman of the Travel Agents Association of Pakistan (TAAP). “There may be eight-hour layovers or even overnight stays, which adds to the travel time.”

    He added that, for example, if a person travelling to Australia via Qatar Airways from Pakistan, he or she must first fly to Doha, Qatar Airways’ hub, and then be carried to Australia from there. Similarly, when a person travels from Australia to Pakistan, the same thing happens.

    PIA’s fleet is expected to grow from the current 29 to 49 by 2026, comprising 16 wide body, 27 narrow body and 6 turbo propeller aircraft. PIA’s share price increased by 1.24 percent on Tuesday to Rs4.09.

  • PIA plane denied permission to land in India

    PIA plane denied permission to land in India

    Patron-in-chief of the Pakistan Hindu Council and Member of National Assembly, Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, in a video message has said that rumours regarding the cancellation of “Faith Tourism Initiative” are false, and the programme has been postponed, but not cancelled.

    The news reports regarding refusal of the Indian government, regarding the request of landing PIA plane at Jaipur International Airport, have been making rounds since morning. Ramesh, while clarifying the news, said, “Our request for PIA landing reached India on January 24; they only had one day after it, and then it was a holiday on 26, and yesterday was 27 so they said they require some time for clearance.”

    “We accept your faith tourism programme and it is a good proposal and we welcome it,” was India’s official response according to Dr Ramesh Kumar.

    Dr Ramesh added that he is hopeful that he will get the clearance next week.

    “This initiative is highly welcomed by both Pak/Indian Governments,” he said in a tweet.

    The programme was initially planned to take Pakistani nationals to India on a four-day tour from January 29-February 1, 2022, for Pilgrimage of Hazrat Nizamudin Aulia (R.A.) Delhi and Hazrat Moinudin Chishti (R.A.) Ajmer ,along with a visit of Taj Mahal Agra, Pink city Jaipur and city tour of Delhi.

  • Islamabad bound flight escapes an accident, bird hits before landing

    Islamabad bound flight escapes an accident, bird hits before landing

    A passenger plane of a private airline was struck by a bird before landing at the Islamabad airport. The incident happened during a flight from Karachi to Islamabad on Friday morning.

    The pilot successfully managed to land the plane without any casualties or injuries. The plane was carrying around 150 passengers.

    The officials of the airline revealed that the landing gear of the plane was damaged. The return flight to Karachi was delayed as the airline’s engineers had to do some repair work. The management arranged another flight to take passengers to the port city.

    Earlier in March, a similar incident took place during a PIA flight PK-368 from Karachi to Islamabad. One of its engines was damaged on which 162 passengers were board. The plane was hit by the plane just after it took off from the runway. However, the pilot managed to land it safely.

  • 90 per cent institutions, including PM Khan’s office, decline RTI requests

    The majority of government institutions and departments have declined to respond to hundreds of queries by Geo News, which were sent to them under the Right To Information (RTI) laws, Investigative Reporter Zahid Gishkori reports for The News.

    According to the Punjab Information Commission, RTI is the right that you have, as a citizen, to access information from your government and private bodies that receive public funds. It is based on the principle that information belongs to the people. Under Article 19-A of the Constitution, RTI is a fundamental right in Pakistan.

    The media outlet reportedly sent approximately 400 different queries to 36 key institutions in the last nine months but 90 per cent of them didn’t respond or simply declined. Only 10 per cent of queries were partially responded to by the institutions, providing either very little or patchy information.

    According to the report, a few of the institutions provided factually incorrect and cooked-up information.

    Over 100 queries were sent to the governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Punjab, both have not responded. Similarly, Sindh and Balochistan did not receive the correspondent’s queries.

    The departments that simply refused to share any information includes the offices of the Prime Minister, President, Chief Ministers, Cabinet Members, Supreme and High Courts, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority, National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Assets Recovery Unit (ARU), Parliament, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the report states.

    The Cabinet Division (CD) refused to share any information regarding gifts and the use of helicopters by PM Khan. The ARU and NAB refused to share information on the Broadsheet scandal, as per the report.

    Furthermore, it says that the Ministry of Interior even shared false information by saying no official is facing inquiry in issuing bogus visas to Chinese nationals. despite the fact that the interior ministry itself referred an inquiry against its own officials allegedly involved in a visa scam to the FIA for probe.

    During the process, Gishkori was approached by four cabinet members and half a dozen senior civil servants to withdraw the requests.

  • Unvaccinated people to face new restrictions in next 24 hours: NCOC

    Unvaccinated people to face new restrictions in next 24 hours: NCOC

    Strict restrictions will be enforced for non-vaccinated individuals from October 1, 2021. National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) announced vaccination certificates will be made “mandatory for domestic travellers from October 1”.

    Confirming the news, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) spokesperson said: “From October 1, only vaccinated passengers will be able to travel on all domestic and international flights of PIA,” reports Geo News.

    “Vaccination certificates will be checked at the airport upon receipt of the boarding card,” he said.

    People won’t be allowed to use railway and airline services without showing their vaccination cards.

    People who do not get vaccinated will not be able to enter wedding halls, shopping malls, hotels and guest houses from tomorrow [October 1].

    On the other hand, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said that pregnant women should also get vaccinated.

    He reiterated that children’s vaccination is also necessary to continue educational activities.

  • PIA denies reports of not providing mineral water to passengers

    The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), has denied the rumours that it will not supply mineral water to passengers on domestic flights, Geo News has reported.

    Some media reports suggested that PIA has decided to stop serving bottles of mineral water to passengers on all domestic flights as part of the national carrier’s efforts to reduce its huge losses.

    “PIA refutes a web news item intended to damage our repute that we will not provide water onboard,” said the PIA, adding that it is a “misrepresentation by some prominent media outlets”, which is both irresponsible and unprofessional.

    PIA categorically rejected the reports saying that “such reports only intended to mislead passengers”.

    In a separate development, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has barred barred airlines from serving food on domestic flights due to the sharp increase of Covid-19 cases in the country.