Another Pakistan airlines cabin crew member goes missing in Canada

by IANS |

Rawalpindi, March 2 (IANS) Another steward of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has reportedly gone missing from Canada, making it the second such incident in a week, a media report said.

Jibran Baloch, 47, was part of the cabin crew on the PK-783 flight from Karachi to Toronto. He was scheduled to report for the return flight PK-782 to Islamabad on Thursday, according to a PIA spokesman, Dawn reported.

When Baloch didn’t report for the return flight, the staff opened his hotel room, but he was not there, the spokesman added.

Earlier on Monday, an air-hostess, Maryam Raza, also 'disappeared' from her hotel room in Toronto after arriving on flight PK-782 from Islamabad.

So far this year, three cabin crew members have gone missing after arriving in Canada, Dawn reported.

Last year, at least seven PIA cabin crew members had gone missing in the country while performing flight duties.

Officials said this trend of disappearing in Canada is due to the flexible law, which offers asylum after entering the country.

According to the national carrier’s spokesman, one of the crew members who had slipped away while on duty some years ago has now settled in Canada and “advises” other crew members mulling asylum, Dawn reported.