KARACHI - PIA says its international and domestic tickets that are not utilised during the strike days would be fully refunded without any additional charges, state media reported on Friday.
Its spokesman said in a statement that this would be done as normal operation resumes.
On the other hand, confusion persists on the arrangements made by the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to accommodate passengers affected by a countrywide strike as private carriers Airblue and Shaheen Airlines declined to accept passengers holding PIA tickets. With over 350 flights cancelled since the strike against the government’s proposed plan to privatise the national airline commenced, the PIA management announced on Thursday an agreement with Airblue and Shaheen Airlines to facilitate thousands of domestic and international passengers affected by the strike.
“An agreement has been reached with Airblue to accept passengers with confirmed PIA tickets for flights to Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Dubai, Muscat, Jeddah and Riyadh,” an official statement issued by PIA had said.
Another press release stated, “PIA has also finalised arrangements with Shaheen Air to accept such passengers for domestic flights. Passengers may contact PIA’s service counters at the airports to convert their tickets to these private airlines. The passengers having PIA’s confirmed tickets at any international destination can also contact PIA staff in their respective countries for conversion of their tickets. They will also be adjusted in various international airlines.”
However, anxious passengers at major airports suffered as the private carriers refused to facilitate them.