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13 hours delay triggers wrath of PIA passengers

Passengers booked by flight PK 214 to Karachi told Khaleej Times that they had been waiting for more than 13 hours to fly to Karachi.

"The flight was due to take off at 9am, but we were told by the station manager that the flight would take off at 12noon. We re-checked with them subsequently and were told that the flight would take off at 5pm, and now we have been told that it would take off by 10.15pm ‘hopefully’," said Bilal Hassan, whose mother and sister are to travel by the flight.

"They checked us in, took our baggage and even issued us boarding passes, but did not inform us the exact time the flight would take off," said Hassan, who brought his mother and sister back home following the rescheduling. "I wish they had let us know in advance because we could have changed the flight as we have an emergency to attend to in Karachi," he said.

Hassan’s mother and sister will now fly Emirates. "I am not sure if I will get a refund," he added.

PIA attributed the delay to a closed runway at Peshawar Airport.

"PIA cannot help the delay in this case as a runway in Peshawar has been closed for reasons not known. The flight due for Dubai was diverted from Lahore to Islamabad to pick up the Peshawar passengers, therefore the flight has been delayed," said a PIA official.

Meanwhile, Khaleej Times sources confirmed that the Peshawar airport was indeed closed since yesterday when the burst tyre of an aircraft damaged part of the tarmac, and repair works had been taken up.

Officials from Pakistan’s private carrier Aero Asia said there was no change in their flight to Peshawar which was due to take off at 11.55pm.

"Our aircraft are not affected as they are small, but maybe bigger aircraft are not allowed to land," he said.

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