KARACHI: The arrival lounge of the Jinnah terminal at its ground floor wore a deserted look. In comparison, the first floor, which handles departures, had too many people. This was soon after the Rangers, military and police handed over Karachi Airport to the Civil Aviation Authority after completing the operation cleanup on Monday.

Time and again the people would glance up at the electronic bulletin board, which had most flights delayed or cancelled. Many, whose flights had been cancelled, were lining up at the various airline counters to know which flight was being put on now.

But 12-year-old Aanas Mahmood’s uncle and mother just wanted to know if the child was okay.

“We have asked the airline to offload the boy now. He is a minor. We don’t know what state he must be in,” said his uncle Mahmood Ali Gondal.

“My son was going to Dubai en route to Dallas. The plane was taxiing when the attack happened last night. Aanas has been here at this airport since that time. I just want to see if he is fine,” his mother Samina Amber shared.

“We called and called the airport to know what was happening inside and if the passengers were safe, but we could only reach the CAA, which didn’t know much. Aanas has to take a connecting flight to Dallas at 4am Dubai time, which would be far too hectic for a little boy so we have decided to just offload him for now,” his uncle said.

People after having to stand there for hours just decided to sit down on the floor. Several among them were senior citizens. One elderly man, Mohammad Qasim, said that he had arrived in Karachi on a bus from Larkana at around 8am and now he was waiting for his PIA flight (PK705) to Jeddah. “But there is no plane coming in. They say we should wait till 8pm when we can inquire again about the flight,” said a very tired Mr Qasim.

“My mother and sister are to leave for Dubai on Emirates flight EK-605, which is delayed. Now they say it may leave at 10.30pm,” said Kamran Bilgrami, who had come to see them off.

Asked if they thought of cancelling their flight under the circumstances, the gentleman smiled and shook his head. “And waste the ticket and visa?” he asked.

Mohammad Arif, another individual, was there to see off his younger brother going to Dubai, too, but on a Fly Dubai flight, FZ5334. “The flight was scheduled for 3.45am. We have been here since last night. When the attack took place, we were all here and ordered to vacate this area. They pushed us out to the McDonald’s park. Now we are allowed back at the terminal. Let’s see if the 5pm time they are saying for the flight to take off would remain or would they push it ahead further,” he said.

Uzma Zia, who had come to see off her mother who was headed to Mumbai for a visit, said that she was so scared to come to the airport that she didn’t even let her children accompany her. “Kids enjoy coming to the airport. First of all it’s a long drive and then there are planes to see too. But not today! I just wouldn’t let them come. I could have also convinced my mother to postpone her visit to India but as it is so difficult to get an Indian visa. So here we are,” she shrugged.

Meanwhile, it was being announced that a PIA flight, PK-308, was also delayed due to some technical problem. “The aircraft at the airport during the attack were diverted to other smaller airports in Sindh so they, including PIA planes, are not here as well. Thankfully, everyone at the various counters has been rather cooperative but quite frankly, there are hardly any flights coming in so hardly anything is getting out. God knows when things will normalise here,” said Syed Sajjd waiting in a queue at one of the airline counters.

Published in Dawn, June 10th, 2014