Private airlines on Wednesday raised fares for the stranded passengers to take advantage of the ongoing strike by the employees of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) against privatisation of the national flag carrier.
Most of the passengers were seen crowding the counters of private airlines.
Usually, the one-way fare from Karachi to Lahore or Islamabad is around Rs 8,000 to Rs 9,000 but after the PIA strike, the private airlines have increased the same to Rs15,000 while their tickets were being sold at around Rs25,000 to Rs30,000 in black.
The stranded passengers complained that they were stuck due to the PIA employees’ strike and taking undue advantage of their sufferings, the private airlines had almost doubled the fares.
Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation Authority has decided to take emergency steps to mitigate the sufferings of passengers.
A CAA spokesman, in a statement, said the Authority has directed private airline Air Blue to start additional flights for Lahore, Karachi, andIslamabad.