Pakistani planes remain grounded

Pakistani International Airlines today cancelled all its domestic and international flights on account of a strike by its engineers demanding a salary hike leaving hundreds of people stranded in airports across the country. The PIA, which has clocked up losses of over Rs 3,500 crore, arranged aircraft from private airlines to carry passengers from Karachi to Islamabad.
PIA flights to international destinations including London, Manchester, Dubai, remained cancelled. The engineers had been protesting for five days and they went on "sick leave" today to press their demands, which includes a 55 per cent hike in pay. They said their claim had been accepted earlier but was rescinded by the current administration. There are some reports of angry stranded passengers occupying the announcement cabins and breaking window-panes of the airports.