PIA says flight operations normal after plane ‘stopped’ in Canada

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) said on Wednesday that its flight operations to Canada are normal as per schedule after it was reported that the national flag carrier plane was grounded over non-payment of dues.

Sources told Geo News that PIA flight PK 790 was stopped in Canada on ground handling and fuel company complaints.

In a statement, a PIA spokesperson said the ground handling company’s dues of $200,000 have been cleared. The PIA plane has been released after payment of dues, the spokesperson added The payment was delayed due to the time difference between the two countries and Flight PK790 was delayed for four hours due to this, the spokesperson said.

Swissport, the ground handling company, had warned in a letter a day earlier that it would stop providing services in case of non-payment of due.

“Over the past several months Pakistan International Airlines has continued a very concerning pattern of late payments for services rendered in Toronto, to date these payments continue to be late despite our repeated demands, read the letter dated October 3.

The company had said PIA was behind in payments to the sum of $141,662 “with another $106,634 coming due in the coming days”. The ground handling warned that PIA would be placed on prepayment with immediate effect.

“[…] Swissport expects PIA to pay its’ outstanding balance of $248,296 plus an additional $100,000 to ensure that ground handling services are continued. If, PIA fails to provide the outstanding balance of $248,296 plus an additional $100,000, no services will be rendered after 17:00 on October 3rd, 2023.”