RAWALPINDI: Heavy fog and poor visibility disrupted flights scheduled to land at Sialkot, Multan and Lahore airports, with at least seven diverted to Islamabad on Thursday.

Another PIA flight from Multan to Islamabad was cancelled due to bad weather.

According to flight information, three international flights scheduled to land at Sialkot International Airport were diverted to Islamabad.

Another PIA flight, PK-790 from Toronto to Lahore, was also diverted to Islamabad due to poor visibility and foggy weather. The flights from Dubai, Jeddah and Baku were also diverted to Islamabad due to dense fog in Lahore.

Task force formed to facilitate passengers

A PIA spokesman said the flights diverted due to weather conditions will be operated soon as the conditions improve.

Anticipating more disruptions, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has constituted a task force to handle the complaints of passengers of delayed, cancelled or diverted flights.

A spokesman for the PCAA said the decision to form the task force at all major airports was taken due to the foggy weather conditions. He said airport managers will head the task force to facilitate the passengers of the affected flights.

The spokesman added poor visibility and thick fog result in delays, cancellations and diversion of flights every year.

This leads to congestion at airports and causes inconvenience to passengers and their family members

The task force will ensure coordination with airlines, the Federal Investigation Agency and the Airport Security Force to facilitate passengers.

It will also coordinate with airlines’ staff to make arrangements for the accommodation, food and transport facilities for passengers. He added the task force will also communicate with the traffic police to ensure that there was no rush in the airport’s parking.

Moreover, airlines have been asked to inform passengers about departure times over phone to avoid inconvenience.

The task force will ensure up-to-date information is conveyed through display systems at airports.

The PCAA’s Airport Services Direc­to­rate has directed the airport managers of Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Multan, Qu­­etta, Faisalabad and Peshawar to ensure compliance with the directive regarding the constitution of the task force.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2022