KARACHI: Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali faced an awkward situation at the Karachi Airport on Thursday, when he was not allowed to board a flight for being late.

The state minister arrived late for flight PA-204 to Lahore, when doors of the aircraft had already been closed.

Abid Ali was stuck in a protest by Pakistan International Airlines employees outside the airport. The protesters chanted anti-government slogans and reportedly blocked the state minister's way.

In September 2014, Senator Rehman Malik and another lawmaker were expelled from a plane by passengers for arriving two hours late for the flight.

Passengers of an Islamabad-bound PIA flight from Karachi had barred Malik and PML-N Member of National Assembly Dr Ramesh Kumar Wakwani from boarding the aircraft. The two were accused of holding the plane back while other passengers waited for hours.