Industrial action by employees of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) has disrupted shipments of fresh produce at three of the country’s main airports.
PIA spokesperson Mashood Tajwar told website Dawn.com the main problem was at Islamabad Airport, while some cargo was being moved through Lahore and Karachi airports.
PIA shipped between 120-150 tonnes of cargo daily, with perishable goods making up around 30-40 per cent of daily loads, he said.
All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters Importers and Merchants Association chairman Abdul Malik told the website 90 per cent of vegetable exports from Pakistan were handled by PIA as it flew direct routes to countries in Europe and the Middle East.
Exports of fruit had not been as badly hit, he added, as exporters preferred sending it by sea.
PIA does not have cold storage facilities, he said, which meant many exporters would be forced to sell produce earmarked for export on the local markets at 25 per cent of the price it would fetch abroad.
PIA employees were striking to protest a number of issues, including the airline’s decision to give a number of its routes to Turkish Airlines, the website reported.
