NICs made mandatory for PIA flights

ISLAMABAD—All passengers on domestic and international flights of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), directed from Saturday to show their identity cards to get boarding passes, as per a decision of the airline management.
While some PIA insiders say the measure is to increase security, there are others who believe it is to control fake reservations. A PIA official seeking anonymity said the decision would leave a negative impression among the passengers about the airline.
He said on an average, 30 to 40 children travel through a Jumbo flight of the PIA on a domestic route and it is simply not possible that all of them would be carrying their identity cards or school cards. "We will have to show leniency, otherwise, it is impossible to operate a flight on time," said the official.
The official further said that the government, while copying the advanced countries to counter terrorism, must keep in mind that all their rules could not be implemented in a developing country like Pakistan.
At the same time, he said, the PIA has not informed the passengers fully, as advertising in a couple of Urdu newspapers was not enough to inform them about the latest decision.
A lady reservation officer posted at the reservation office of PIA was of the view that the step also helped curb the irregularity of travel agents making fake reservations to create artificial shortage.—Agencies