In a weird journey blunder that has sparked headlines in Pakistan, a home passenger sure for Karachi ended up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, regardless of not carrying a passport or visa. The incident has raised severe questions on safety and verification procedures at Lahore airport.
The passenger, Shahzain, had booked a routine home flight from Lahore to Karachi with a non-public airline. However as a substitute of touchdown within the southern Pakistani metropolis, he discovered himself on worldwide soil in Jeddah, with out even realising he had boarded the fallacious flight.
“Two planes had been parked on the home terminal gate. I handed over my ticket, and nobody stopped me. I solely realised one thing was fallacious two hours into the flight,” Shahzain advised ARY Information.
In line with him, airline employees did not confirm his boarding go correctly or discover the absence of worldwide journey paperwork. “Once I requested why we hadn’t reached Karachi, the crew panicked and blamed me for the error,” he stated, including that he was later knowledgeable it might take as much as three days to rearrange his return.
Shahzain has now issued a authorized discover to the airline, accusing it of gross negligence and demanding compensation for the ordeal, together with journey prices and emotional misery.
The authorized fiasco has additionally caught the eye of Pakistan’s airport authorities. In line with stories, the Lahore Airport Administration has held the airline accountable for the lapse and has submitted a proper request for disciplinary motion.
A senior airport official advised ARY Information, “It is a clear case of negligence and carelessness on the airline’s half. The passenger had no passport or visa. He ought to by no means have been allowed on a world flight.”
The Federal Investigation Company (FIA) is anticipated to conduct an inquiry into how a passenger with out legitimate journey paperwork cleared boarding and ended up abroad.
The airline has not but issued an official assertion.
