Mumbai: Pakistan-bound passengers from the city and staff at the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) office here are a worried lot after the airline announced the suspension of its weekly Mumbai-Karachi flight due to aircraft lease issues. The last PIA flight on this sector is expected to be on May 8.
The PIA has four aircraft on lease, the airline’s Mumbai station manager Ahmed Barakzai told The Hindu on Friday. “The lease is ending, including for the plane that flies to Mumbai. There will be no flights for at least another three months,” Mr. Barakzai said. He confirmed that Pakistan’s national carrier did not operate a flight from Mumbai to Karachi on Thursday, adding Indian authorities had been informed of the suspension of the service on May 4.
Staff at the PIA office at Mittal Court in Churchgate appeared worried about their jobs, given the flight was being suspended. “There are many passengers who fly every month. We hope this is just temporary and the flight resumes soon,” an Indian staff member said.
Mr. Barakzai clarified that the prevailing tension between India and Pakistan had nothing to do with the suspension of flights between Mumbai and Karachi. “Flights to Delhi will operate as usual,” he said.
A profit-making entity that earned more than ₹200 crore in 2004, PIA went into deficit and could not stem the downslide. Since 2013, when the present Nawaz Sharif-led government took over, the carrier has suffered losses of over ₹10,000 crore, airline officials said.
Last month, reports suggested that PIA had created chiefs for nine departments, and certain key officers would perform duties independent of administrative checks and report directly to the airline’s board of directors.
