Pakistan's PIA partially resumes flight operations

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines today partially resumed its flight operations following a six day-long countrywide strike against the government's plan to privatise the ailing national flag carrier as four "missing" union members returned home.

Workers' unions of PIA called for total strike on February 2 when three protesting workers were killed in clashes with police in Karachi, leading to grounding of all the flights.

Over 600 flights were cancelled and the already cash- starved company suffered huge losses, approximately billions of rupees, in addition to severe hardships to passengers.

According to PIA Spokesman Daniyal Gilani, flights have restarted and workers are coming back to join their duties.

PIA head offices in Karachi and Islamabad reopened today, following partial resumption of flight operations at various international airports across Pakistan, he said.

"Eighteen flights of the national flag carrier have reached their destinations since the resumption of the flight operations," Gilani said, adding that two PIA flights came from Saudi Arabia, bringing back stranded pilgrims.

The resumption of flights came after four members of the Joint Action Committee of PIA Employees (JACPIAE), "missing" for some days, returned home early this morning.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif welcomed the workers who have joined their duties.

PIA has some 19,000 employees. The government says the carrier is facing an accumulative loss of Rs 320 billion. It intends to give a 'golden handshake' to at least 50 per cent of its employees who it says were hired on political grounds.