RAWALPINDI: The sale of stale food in the parking lot canteen of Islamabad International Airport (IIA), shortage of porters, trolleys and loss of passenger luggage were travelers’ complaints that emerged during an e-Kutchery arranged by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

“The 42nd edition of e-Kutchery was organised under the leadership of Director General CAA Khaqan Murtaza,” said a spokesman.

A total of 92 comments were received. In response to a question regarding the expansion of Sukkur airport, the CAA chief said once the Sindh government provided the land work on the expansion project will start.

The project includes construction of a new terminal building and a longer runway for larger aircraft such as Boeing 777.

The plan has been approved by the CAA board and sent to the CDWP.

DG orders airport managers to resolve issues such as shortage of porters, trolleys and loss of passengers’ luggage

Mr Murtaza directed the officials to immediately redress passenger complaints against Saudi Airlines and Fly Jinnah, regarding loss of passenger luggage, as well as the sale of stale food in the parking lot canteen of the IIA and passengers’ difficulties in finding porters, trolleys, etc.

The CAA authorities were also informed about compensation/reimbursement policy 2012 following porters’ demand for extra money over and above normal fee for services, delays due to inadequate scanners at the IIA, passenger dissatisfaction with refund process after lost baggage and delay in payments to contractors.

And broken check-in chairs at Jinnah International Airport, disembarkation of passengers for non-fulfillment of travel requirements, management of immigration counters and wrong notification of flight cancellations to passengers were also among the complaints.

The complainants also accused traffic wardens of extorting money from passengers leaving the IIA and long queues outside and inside airports.

The CAA chief discussed these matters with the respective directors and issued instructions to the airport managers and officials to resolve them immediately.

He also requested the passengers to provide additional information, including the date of the incident, exact time and their contact numbers, saying these would be used to review the CCTV footage and will also help identify those responsible for wrongdoing.

Corrective measures will be taken if required and passengers will be contacted for further details, he said.

On a passenger’s complaint about the lack of ATMs, branded food chains and shopping malls at airports, the DG explained that airports were being outsourced to meet these requirements.

The process is ongoing and Karachi and Lahore airports will also be outsourced.

When asked about strict visa checking and offloading of passengers going to Northern Cyprus, he clarified that these measures were mainly to discourage illegal travel.

Furthermore, these measures are implemented based on the requests of destination states.

He directed an investigation into the complaint of a passenger who had alleged theft of valuables from his luggage after traveling to Riyadh from Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2024