Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), on Monday, announced the suspension of PIA flight operations to Kabul following mismanagement at the Kabul airport.
At least five people were killed and several injured as a result of a stampede at the Kabul airport on Sunday. Thousands of people, locals, and foreigners thronged the airport in a bid to evacuate the capital taken over by the Taliban on 15 August.
A PIA spokesman told the media that the national carrier had suspended its flights for the Kabul airport for an unidentified period due to an uncertain situation.
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“Lack of security, absence of aviation staff and crowd at the Kabul airport has led to the suspension of the PIA flights in order to secure passengers, staff and national flag carrier’s assets,” the spokesman said, adding that the decision was in accordance with the instructions of the foreign ministry and Afghanistan’s aviation authority.
The capital’s airport, currently under the control of the US Army, temporarily suspended commercial flights on Saturday to pace up the eviction of the US and European diplomats as their 20-year rule war to an end.
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The PIA flight was made to wait for hours before being allowed to take off on Saturday. On Sunday, the airline operated two more flights to the Afghan capital at the request of authorities in Kabul. However, both were delayed by hours due to US military helicopters laying siege to the Kabul airport and closing it ahead of the landing of four US C-130 aircraft.
Although the airline had plans to operate additional flights to evacuate Pakistanis and foreigners wanting to leave Afghanistan, the ongoing security situation has barred it from doing so.