After the fake pilot license scam, a flight ticketing scandal running in millions has taken cash-strapped Pakistan by the storm. According to reports, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has lost PKR 8 million in the sale of tickets for special flights to Europe.
PIA officials accommodated old purchased tickets by charging extra
Dawn News quoted some sources as telling on Monday that some officials at the Sialkot PIA office, in order to make some quick buck, dubiously accommodated 50 passengers holding old tickets, issued prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, on special flights going to Italy and Paris. It is believed that this was in violation of PIA rules.
As per policy, the PIA has not been accommodating passengers having tickets issued prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, (since mid-March) for any destination, in fact, it was issuing new tickets for these special flights to Europe, the price of which are almost double of the fare charged for regular flights issued prior to the pandemic.
“The officials in question accommodated old purchased tickets by charging extra money from their holders (passengers) for their travel to Italy and Paris,” a source told Dawn news, adding the officials committed this fraud in collaboration with some travel agents.
“Through this fraud the officials also deprived the PIA of a huge sum of money,” the sources furthered also adding that the fraud had been detected and an inquiry had been launched against the accused.
It was reported how the people availing the repatriation flights to Pakistan had earlier raised concerns over inadequate ticketing arrangements, overpriced tickets and non-refundability in case of mishap.
Family of plane crash victim raised concern over “mafia” rule in the Civil Aviation Authority
As per reports, the family of one of the 97 victims of the PIA crash on May 22 has urged the Pakistani Supreme Court to take action against the “mafia” that it claimed has ruined the CivilAviation Authority (CAA) and the national airlines of Pakistan. The family had demanded early release of the insurance amount as per the carriage act law.
Fake pilot license scam
Prior to this, Pakistan’s Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar khan made a shocking revelation saying that more than 30 per cent of civilian pilots in Pakistan carry fake licences and so are not qualified to fly a plane.
While addressing Pakistan’s National assembly, the aviation minister said that some 262 pilots in the country paid someone to sit on their behalf in the exam to clear the examination. These findings were revealed after a probe into the PIA plane crash in Karachi last month. However, Khan did not mention whether the pilots on board the crashed plane were fake pilots or not.
Following the publication of the report into the crash, Pakistan International Airlines grounded 150 pilots suspected of having fake licenses.
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger plane which crashed near the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi last month happened due to human error, a probe report revealed. The report had suggested that the pilots were discussing the coronavirus crisis during the landing.
