RAWALPINDI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will be operating special flights to Doha to bring back Pakistani pilgrims stranded there.

In a statement issued on Monday, PIA CEO Nayyar Hayat had directed that special flights be arranged for the pilgrims.

Mr Hayat has asked the country manager to coordinate with the Pakistanis stranded in Qatar. PIA officials in Doha have also been directed to contact the Pakistani embassy in Doha.

Pakistani pilgrims who were travelling to Saudi Arabia for Umrah via Qatar were stranded in Doha after several countries including Saudi Arabia, UAE and Egypt cut diplomatic ties with Qatar.

According to media reports, Riyadh closed its land, sea and air contact with Qatar, which called the decision ‘unjustified’.

Meanwhile passengers on board PIA flight PK-770 from Islamabad to Barcelona were stuck in Paris after the Boeing 777 aircraft developed technical problems. The flight carrying a team of engineers and equipment for the faulty aircraft was also delayed.

According to a PIA spokesperson, the flight to Barcelona took off on Sunday and the aircraft developed a fault after it landed in Paris which could not be removed due to the unavailability of engineers and spare parts. The passengers en route Barcelona had to stay the night in Paris and those who were travelling on the same flight back to Islamabad were also delayed. The spokesperson said PIA decided to send a team of engineers and equipment on board its London-bound flight PK-785 by re-routing it via Paris. He said the re-routed flight was ready for takeoff at 1pm but could not set off on time due to the closure of the runway at Benazir Bhutto International Airport by the Civil Aviation Authority for cleaning between 1pm and 3pm.

The spokesperson said all passengers on PK-785 were disembarked and moved to the passengers lounge till the runway was cleaned and flight operations were started. The flight took off at 3:30pm.

The spokesperson said the runway was closed so rubber deposit can be removed from it which he said was routine practice in the summers.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2017