Over 300 Pakistanis stranded in China after flight ‘cancellation’

As many 300 Pakistanis were stranded in the Chinese city of Gongzuo after their flight was abruptly ‘cancelled’ on Sunday, a local news channel reported on Wednesday.

Flight NA-891 of the Shaheen Air was ‘rescheduled’ on July 29, a spokesperson of the airline told the media, adding that the passengers were provided food and accommodation.

However, other media reports claimed that the stranded passengers, a majority of whom hail from Chaman district of Balochistan, have stated that their flight was cancelled by the Chinese authorities. They appealed to the Pakistani government for help.

The reports added that the Chinese police arrested some Pakistani travellers due to their expired visas, however, the Shaheen Air spokesperson refuted to these claims, saying that no passenger was arrested by the Chinese authorities. “The report that Pakistani passengers were arrested in China are baseless,” the airline responded.

Shaheen Air has also assured that the flight NA-891 will take off from China on Thursday at 10 pm CST.

‘CANCELLATION’:

Media reports have claimed that the flight was cancelled as Shaheen Air International cannot land any plane at the Gongzuo airport after it imposed heavy taxes.

The airline had promised to send another plane on August 2 for the stuck passengers but that flight was also cancelled. Shaheen Air has also refunded the tickets to the passengers but they have complained that all the other flights cost a lot more than the refunded price.

CJP TAKES NOTICE:

Meanwhile, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar took notice of the incident and directed to issue notices to CEO of the airline and secretaries of the Aviation Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis, to submit a report within 12 hours.

The matter has been fixed in court on Friday (August 3) at the Lahore Registry of the Supreme Court.