From Abid Usman
LAHORE: Eighteen domestic and international flights were either cancelled or delayed from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Sialkot airports Sunday, causing great hardships to passengers who devised their travel plans for various destinations.
In the case of Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport, bad weather was the reason behind this episode as violent thunderstorms with hail hit the metropolis Saturday night till wee hours on Sunday.
As a result, airport sources say, multiple flights were diverted to Islamabad and Multan after weather conditions did not allow these planes to land in Lahore.
On the other hand, two Fly Baghdad flights IF-331 and IF-332 from Karachi to the Iraqi capital were cancelled.
Similarly, two domestic PIA flights PK-503 and PK-504 – one from Karachi to Gwadar and the other Gwadar to Karachi – had also been cancelled. At the same time, four more flights from Islamabad to Gilgit – PK-601, PK-602, PK-605 and PK-606 – were also cancellation list.
But the cancellations at the federal capital’s airport didn’t limit to the national flag carrier only, as Islamabad-Muscat PF-734 and Muscat-Islamabad flights of Air Sial were also on the list.
Other cancelled Air Sial flights included Lahore-Damam PF-742 and PF-743, Karachi-Lahore PF-143 and PF-144, Karachi-Islamabad PF-121, PF-122. PF-125 and PF-126.
Meanwhile, the delayed flights of different airlines were:
SereneAir: Karachi-Jeddah ER-811 (two hours and 15 minutes), Lahore-Jeddah ER-801 (three hours) with a 10-hour delay in the case of a domestic Karachi-Faisalabad flight.
Saudia: Lahore-Jeddah SV-739 (three hours and 15 minutes).
PIA: PK-302 Karachi-Lahore (one hour and 45 minutes), PK-340 Karachi-Faisalabad (rescheduled at 7pm instead of morning), PK-263 Lahore-Abu Dhabi (three hours and 20 minutes), PK-281 Sialkot-Muscat (now scheduled for 4:30pm after a three-hour delay), Sialkot-Kuwait City (two hours and 45 minutes).
