KARACHI: Eight Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights departed from and landed at Islamabad's Benazir Bhutto International Airport (BBIA) after five days of stalled operations at all major international airports in the country.

Flights PK 7330 and PK 760 carried a total of over 700 pilgrims returning home after Umrah from Jeddah.

Arrivals at BBIA:

• PK 4231 from Abu Dhabi
• PK 606 from Gilgit Baltistan
• PK 7330 from Jeddah
• PK 760 from Jeddah

Departures from BBIA:

• PK 4232 to Abu Dhabi
• PK 211 to Dubai
• PK 655 to Lahore
• PK 7333 to Jeddah

Civil Aviation official Imran earlier told Dawn.com it was unclear whether more PIA flights would operate at the airport the rest of the day.

Although the PIA employees' Joint Action Committee (JAC) has resolved to continue their protest against the government's plans to privatise the national flag carrier, PIA spokesman Daniyal Gillani said flight operations are "partially on" and is optimistic they will pick up in the coming week.

"Some employees are willing to come to work. They operated the flights [that arrived and departed from BBIA] this morning," he said.

JAC members claimed the flights operated were 'illegal' as they weren't up to international security standards, DawnNews reported.

The Pakistan Air Lines Pilots Association (Palpa) on Saturday announced its withdrawal from the strike against PIA's privatisation, with the organisation head directing pilots to resume their duties. Palpa added in a a statement that pilots were neither instrumental in halting the flight operations nor could they alone resume it.

Palpa President Amir Hashmi earlier told DawnNews: "At least 410 out of 430 pilots in Palpa are in favour of resumption of flight operations," but that they should be provided adequate security as "we are receiving threats from the protesters". Palpa urged the government to resolve the issue so that flight operations could resume at the earliest.

PIA employees have also voiced concerns about security, a PIA official speaking on condition of anonymity told Dawn.com "PIA employees are afraid of going to work. Some security arrangements have been made for them," he said.

PIA JAC Spokesman Nasrullah Khan, however, told Dawn.com "We are not pressuring employees to stop working or calling them to protest... We are peaceful."

Television footage shows PIA employees protesting outside the country's four major airports as the strike against privatisation goes into its sixth day.

Nasrullah said protesters will hold a rally in Karachi on Monday near the PIA Head Office at around 12pm.

He said a petition submitted in the Sindh High Court regarding the 'mysterious' disappearances of four People's Unity members has been accepted for hearing, although a date for the first hearing is pending. "We haven't named anyone in the petition. Our workers were picked up from their houses. We want to know why," he said.

On Saturday, a First Information Report (FIR) was registered against key government functionaries and top PIA management regarding Tuesday's firing incident that claimed the lives of two PIA employees on the first day of the protest. No Rangers personnel were named in the FIR.

An inquiry committee set up to investigate the shooting of PIA employees has begun probing the incident, a Rangers press release said Sunday, adding that individuals highlighted in various media clips, including Rangers personnel, will be questioned during the investigation.

Stalled talks

Talks between the federal government and protesting employees hit a snag on Saturday as both sides seemed unwilling to budge from their positions.

Federal Privatisation Minister Muhammad Zubair and JAC Chairman Captain Sohail Baloch, despite agreeing to continue dialogue in a meeting on Friday, did not meet again.

The government on Saturday insisted that the employees unconditionally resume flight operations before coming back to the negotiating table. The demand was immediately rejected by the workers, who instead asked the government to reverse the plan to privatise the national flag carrier if it wanted a dialogue.

The government has so far failed to evolve a strategy to resolve the impasse that has resulted in the cancellation of over 500 domestic and international flights, causing extreme inconvenience and mental agony to thousands of passengers.

Privatisation of PIA

The National Assembly on January 21 witnessed the passage of six bills, including one to convert the national flag carrier into a public limited company.

Under the bill, Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIAC) is to be converted into a public limited company as Pakistan International Airlines Company Limited (PIACL).

The government plans to split the ailing national flag carrier PIA into two companies and sell the control of its core business to a global airline, but the opposition to the sell-off has been intense.

Although the government has assured PIA employees that no one will be laid off after privatisation, PIA employees insist the government accept their four-point agenda and put off privatisation.

PIA employee's four-point agenda:

• Government should immediately take back the bill passed on January 21 converting the national flag carrier into a public limited company.
• PIA's employees be provided a chance to reform the airline. If the employees fail to do so, the government will have the freedom to do whatever it finds suitable.
• Privatisation, in any form, whether it is in form of a strategic partner or selling of 36 per cent or 1pc of the organisation's shares, is not acceptable to the employees.
• Government should immediately review the aviation policy and form a committee for this purpose comprising members from PIA employees' JAC along with PIA experts Khursheed Anwar, Kamran Hasan and Salahuddin.