The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was forced to change its domestic flight schedule and cancel one domestic flight on Friday after two of its aircraft were grounded due to bird hits at Islamabad and Karachi airports.
In a statement, a PIA spokesman said that a Boeing 737 on a scheduled flight (PK 390) from Lahore to Islamabad was hit by a bird late Friday afternoon while landing at Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad.
The same aircraft was to perform PK 369 from Islamabad to Karachi, however due to the unavailability of aircraft, flight PK 369 with 118 passengers had to be cancelled, the spokesman said. These passengers were adjusted on PK 309 and an incoming international flight PK 853 which will now bring them to Karachi from Islamabad, he added. Passengers on PK 309 will reach Karachi by 9pm while PK 853 will arrive at 3am in the morning (Saturday). Another flight PK 307 arriving from Lahore to Karachi late Thursday night was also hit by a bird at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, due to which an Airbus A310 aircraft was declared “technical” and the aircraft is being repaired at the PIA Engineering facility, the spokesman said, adding that due to the unavailability of aircraft, the passengers booked for September 14 Lahore-bound flight PK 306 would be adjusted on PK 370 which would now operate as Karachi-Lahore-Islamabad.