Amid a rash of disappearances, Pakistani flight attendant fined after flight to Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario
Published March 18, 2024 at 11:20 am
Landing in Canada without a passport has led to a fine for a Pakistani flight attendant amid a rash of disappearances of the airline’s workers after landing at Pearson International Airport in Mississauga.
The latest incident happened when Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) PK-781 flight landed at Pearson from Islamabad on Friday, according to multiple reports out of India.
The female flight attendant reportedly boarded the flight using “general declaration documents” after forgetting her passport in the Karachi airport, and upon landing was hit with a $200 fine from Canadian authorities.
A spokesperson for PIA told the Hindustan Times that the flight attendant who landed without their passport will be returning to Pakistan on PIA flight PK-782, which is not scheduled to fly back to Islamabad on Thursday according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.
While the incident is being described as a mistake by the airline, the fine comes as at least 10 PIA flight attendants have reportedly disappeared in Canada after landing at Pearson in the last few years.
Just last month, PIA flight attendant Maryam Raza vanished from her hotel following flight PK 782. The flight attendant never showed up for a scheduled return flight from Pearson to Karachi, leading the crew to fly back to Pakistan without the missing woman.
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A note was found in her hotel room which reportedly read “Shukria PIA,” which translates to, “Thank you, PIA” in Urdu.
At least seven similar disappearances were experienced by PIA in 2023, with international reports saying at least 10 PIA workers have gone missing in Canada in recent years.
The rash of potentially deliberate disappearances has been attributed to low salaries and fear that the carrier will be privatized, but also could be a way for employees to seek asylum in Canada. Similar incidents have also occurred following PIA flights to Paris and other parts of Europe in recent years.
Anyone seeking asylum in Canada must be physically present in the country “or be seeking entry into the country at a point of entry,” like an airport land border or seaport, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
PIA has set up a task force to investigate the disappearances, which include two other PIA flight attendants who vanished upon arrival at Pearson from Lahore, Pakistan in December. Another cabin crew member reportedly pulled a similar disappearing act once their flight touched down at the airport earlier that month.
Last November, two other flight attendants vanished once at Pearson after a flight from Islamabad.
A number of others in the months leading up to late fall 2023 are reported to have similarly disappeared once on Canadian soil.
PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan told The Media Line that the airline has launched a task force to investigate the disappearances, saying missing flight attendants will face “strict departmental action” and “serious legal action” if they are returned to Pakistan.
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