RAWALPINDI: Hundreds of air passengers, the majority of whom were Umrah pilgrims, staged a protest at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) against delays in the departure of Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) flight for Jeddah on Friday.

Passengers waiting for the departure of their flight, PK-741 for Jeddah since morning lost patience at about 4pm when they still could not get a confirmation regarding the new flight time. The flight was scheduled to take off at 8:25am and was delayed till 7pm.

According to witnesses, passengers, the majority of whom were wearing ahram and were waiting in the international departure lounge, started shouting slogans against the airline and its management.

A spokesperson for the airline said the delay was caused by suspension in fuel supply to the airline in Karachi. He said the situation will be back to normal soon and flights will operate according to schedule.

He said three flights were delayed due to fuel crisis including the one from Islamabad to Jeddah. He added that the Jeddah bound flight was also delayed due to the closure of the runway between 1pm and 4pm at BBIA.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2017