Karachi: A sudden increase in technical glitches in the national airline’s aircraft has made flight delays of several hours a day commonplace.

According to sources, 11 PIA flights were delayed due to technical glitches in the last 24 hours, while several aircraft were under inspection by ground crew technical teams.

A flight from Islamabad to Dubai was delayed by two hours due to weekly checks of the Airbus aircraft. Similarly, Karachi-Lahore flight PK 177 and Islamabad-Karachi flight PK 309 departed late due to technical glitches in the aircraft’s nose well.

An ATR flight from Karachi to Sukkur was delayed by one and a half hours due to a malfunction in the landing lights, while Medina-Multan flight PK 716 departed three hours late due to a malfunction in the aircraft’s parking brake.

Islamabad-Karachi flight PK 301 was also delayed by half an hour due to a technical fault, while the international flight PK 783 from Karachi to Toronto was delayed for several hours due to a malfunction in the Boeing aircraft’s refueling system.

Sources say that PIA has a severe shortage of spare parts for aircraft, due to which parts are being removed from one aircraft and installed in another.

Due to continuous technical faults and delays, the flight schedule of the national airline is being badly affected, while passengers are facing severe difficulties and inconvenience.