Tue, 21-Oct-2025

PIA cabin crew members to undergo mandatory alcohol checkups

PIA

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has directed its cabin crew members to undergo medical checkups through a breath analyzer to ascertain the presence of alcohol particles.

According to the directives issued, PIA cabin crew members would undergo the test on all flights and it would be carried out at briefing rooms by a flight surgeon, a medical officer, or a ground staff supervised by the flight surgeon.

“All operating cabin crew is required to undergo the test before operating flight on must basis,” the directives issued by PIA read.

According to the authorities, the test was introduced to avoid the use of alcohol during flight operations. The advisory issued from the PIA medical department will come into force on an immediate basis.

Earlier in January 2019, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight attendant was offloaded from a Lahore-bound flight for being under influence of alcohol.

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Turkish Airlines welcomes plan for PIA’s Istanbul flight operations

Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines has welcomed a plan by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to start flight operations to Turkey from next month.

PIA CEO Arshad Malik has said that the airline planned to start operations to Turkey from the first week of August.

However, Turkey’s aeronautical authorities have granted permission for the flights.

According to the plan, PIA passengers will be able to travel to Europe from Turkey via Turkish Airlines.

In his letter, the Turkish Airlines’ CEO proposed to upgrade the codeshare from unilateral to a bilateral arrangement with Pakistan.

Moreover, flights of both companies to Birmingham, London, Milan, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Oslo can also be made with codeshare.

However, through this plan, Pakistani passengers landing at the airport in Istanbul will be able to book flights on European routes.

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