Toronto (Agencies): A female flight attendant from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Faiza Mukhtar, has reportedly gone missing during a layover in Toronto, Canada. Mukhtar was on duty for flight PK 781 from Islamabad International Airport to Toronto Pearson International Airport, which landed in Toronto on January 18, 2024. She was scheduled to work on flight PK 784 from Toronto Airport to Karachi International Airport the following day but failed to show up for duty and could not be located.
This incident is not an isolated case as at least eight flight attendants have disappeared during PIA’s layovers in Canada over the past two years. In response to these incidents, PIA imposed stricter rules in December 2023, including rostering only flight attendants over the age of 50 and enforcing stricter monitoring of crew during layovers.
The airline attributes these disappearances to Canada’s lenient immigration policies and liberal asylum procedures. A spokesperson for PIA stated that despite their stringent efforts to prevent such incidents, Canada’s liberal laws make these measures counter-effective. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) notes that Canada does not deport asylum seekers to certain countries deemed unsafe.