Airline mistakenly flies Karachi-bound passenger from Lahore to Jeddah without passport or visa

A private Pakistani airline faced scrutiny after a domestic passenger travelling from Lahore to Karachi was mistakenly flown to Jeddah, without a passport or visa.

The passenger, Malik Shahzain, a Karachi resident, had been in Lahore for a month on business. On July 7, he booked a domestic flight back to Karachi with a private airline.

According to Shahzain, he arrived at Allama Iqbal International Airport, received his boarding pass, and was taken by airport shuttle to board his flight.

Due to ongoing construction at the airport and the late hour, two aircraft, one bound for Karachi and the other for Jeddah, were parked close to each other on the tarmac.

In the confusion, he mistakenly boarded the international flight to Saudi Arabia along with other passengers.

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Shahzain told reporters he expected to arrive in Karachi within 90 minutes, but after the flight continued for over two hours, he became alarmed.

Upon questioning the cabin crew, they checked his boarding pass and discovered he was supposed to be on the domestic flight to Karachi. However, by that time, the plane had already exited Pakistani airspace and could not turn back.

He was eventually taken off the flight in Jeddah, where local authorities questioned him due to the absence of travel documents.

The next day, on July 8, he was placed on a return flight to Lahore. There, he was questioned by immigration and security officials, who determined he was not at fault. Two days later, he was finally flown to Karachi on the correct domestic route.

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In a statement, the airline attributed the incident to a “misunderstanding” caused by simultaneous departures of flights to Karachi and Jeddah at a time when construction work was ongoing at Lahore Airport.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Pakistan Airports Authority confirmed that the incident was taken seriously. A formal letter was sent to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the airline’s station manager, recommending a heavy penalty for negligence.