LAHORE: Lack of coordination between the Pakistani embassy in the United States and the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is causing problems for stranded passengers in getting their tickets booked for back home.Instead of PIA, the government has asked the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to book tickets.

`I have registered with the Pakistani embassy in the US over a month ago for my travel back to the country but still awaiting my turn, Azhar Mahmood in Houston told Dawn by phone on Tuesday. He said he had contacted a consulate in Houston to know about the status of his travel and he was informed that PIA issued a list of passengers and his name was not in it. `When my name comes in the list I will be informed about buying ticket from Nadra,` he said.There are reports that those, who are told to buy tickets after getting themselves registered with the embassy, are informed just a couple of days before their departure to Pakistan and it is very difficult for them to reach from other destinations in the US to the point f rom where the PIA flight is scheduled to take them back home.

A source said the embassy provided a list of passengers to the PIA a couple of days prior to arranging a flight for the US. So far the PIA has issued a schedule for five flights to the US till May 21. Some 2,000 Pakistanis are stranded in the US.

`Owing to the lack of coordina-tion, the PIA too has suffered a financial loss of Rs25 million in its first chartered flight from the US to Islamabad on Monday in which over 70 seats remained vacant,` he said.

Besides, [despite low cost of fuel] the government is charging 60 per cent more than the actual price [fare] from a stranded passenger.

When contacted, PIA Lahore spokesperson Athar Awan told Dawn that the national flag carrier had been in contact with the Pakistani embassy in the US and was making arrangements with regard to chartered flights to bring back the strandedpassengers.