Employees say they will remain on strike until the government shelves plans to sell a 26-percent stake in the loss-making airline to private investors.
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Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid on Wednesday said the government had a strategy in place to foil some political parties’ attempts to cash in on the planned privatisation of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). Among the four are Deputy Convener JAC and President of People’s Unity union Hidayatullah Khan and senior vice president of People’s Unity Zameer Chandio, Nasrullah said and PIA employees Saifullah and Mansoor. At Karachi’s worldwide airport, demonstrators waved placards and chanted slogans against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, calling on the leader to reverse a bill that converted the carrier into a public limited company.
As news of the deaths of two protesting PIA employees in a clash with security forces spread on Tuesday evening, the national flag carrier’s flight operations across the country began shutting down in solidarity with the protesters, officials said.
Yousaf Sarwar said peaceful protest was the right of every citizen but it should not be allowed at the cost of difficulties to the passengers. Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has said he had asked the law enforcers to refrain from baton-charging the protesting employees of PIA.
An Etihad spokesperson told Arabian Business that the airline is operating its “normal schedule of flights to Pakistan” but that codeshare services are likely to be disrupted. The carrier could lose around $4 million in revenue per day, Gilani added.
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The pilots association, which was earlier staying away from the protest, also joined the strike. More than 35 domestic and worldwide flights had been cancelled by the evening. Sensing the predicament of air travellers, the Civil Aviation Authority has requested a private airline company, Air Blue, to commence special flights from Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad.
