Pakistan airline denies travellers made to stand during flight

National carrier will investigate claim of extra passengers

ISLAMABAD // Pakistan’s national carrier yesterday said that it would investigate allegations that a plane flew from Karachi to Saudi Arabia carrying seven extra passengers, but denied they stood in the aisles for the three-hour journey.

The January 20 flight to Medina reportedly carried 416 passengers, seven more than its capacity of 409, including jump seats, in a serious breach of air safety regulations.

In an emergency, passengers without seats would not have had access to oxygen masks and could block evacuation.

Danyal Gilani, spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines, said media reports that passengers had travelled standing were “exaggerated and baseless”.

“It is not possible for anyone to travel like that in an aircraft, regardless of the duration of the flight,” he said.

“The matter pertaining to the travel of more passengers than the booked load is under investigation.”

The airline had ordered a thorough probe, Mr Ghani said.

“PIA is committed to ensure the safety of the passengers and cannot allow any incident to happen that compromises safety,” he said.

The airline, which was considered a global leader until the 1970s, has been plagued by controversies over recent years and saddled with billions of dollars of debt.

A PIA turboprop built by European manufacturer ATR crashed into a mountain in a northern region on December 7, bursting into flames and killing all 47 people on board.

The airline was later mocked after its staff were photographed sacrificing a goat on a runway to ward off bad luck.

Domestic flights are often delayed for VIPs while flight employees have been caught smuggling goods ranging from iPhones to narcotics.

In 2013, one of PIA’s pilots was jailed for nine months in Britain for being drunk before he was scheduled to fly from Leeds to Islamabad with 156 people on board.