KARACHI: As Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar took notice of reports that hundreds of Pakistanis are stranded in China because of the mismanagement of a private airline, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) gave permission on humanitarian grounds to Shaheen Air International (SAI) to operate a special flight to bring the passengers back home.

The passengers have been stranded at China’s Guangzhou airport for the past few days as SAI was not able to operate its flights. This is the second time that the CAA has allowed SAI to bring back its passengers.

According to an SAI statement, its special flight (NL-892) is expected to leave Lahore for the Chinese city on Friday and may return (NL-0891) by the evening.

According to APP, the chief justice in Islamabad ordered that notices be issued to the airline’s chief executive officer, secretary of the Aviation Division and secretaries of ministries of foreign affairs and overseas Pakistanis to submit a report within 12 hours.

He observed that 300 passengers were scheduled to travel back to Pakistan on July 29. However, the flight has not been arranged yet, reflecting serious mismanagement and negligence on the part of the airline.

Some Pakistani passengers are said to have been fined and face arrest due to visa expiry.

The court has fixed the matter at its Lahore registry on Aug 3 (today).

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2018