April 8, PIA Boeing 777-300ER (aircraft registration AP-BHV) commercial flight PK842 from Jeddah to Islamabad was diverted to Lahore for disembarkation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his delegation members including Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz, the airline’s spokesperson confirmed to DAWN.
PK842 that was supposed to land in Islamabad at 10:30 PM on April 8 night, was diverted landed in Lahore at 9.25 PM.
PM, CM and other VIPs disembarked at Lahore Airport causing inconvenience to hundreds of other Islamabad-bound passengers.
The commercial flight from Jeddah to Islamabad was carrying 393 passengers including official Pakistani delegation members and their families returning from Saudi Arabia visit.
Geo News
Videos circulating on social media showed passengers expressing their anger, but they had no other option but to wait until the VIPs disembarked before continuing their journey to Islamabad.
After offloading about 79 passengers, the flight eventually took off for Islamabad and landed at the Islamabad International Airport at 11.17pm.
When asked whether this was special treatment, the PIA spokesperson said "VIPs were treated like commercial passengers".
https://www.dawn.com/news/1826769/pia-f ... mbark-vips
