PESHAWAR: Apparently ‘technical fault’ in aircraft caused over five hours delay in the arrival of the first Haj flight from Jeddah to Peshawar on Monday.

The flight of Pakistan International Airlines carrying 329 passengers was to depart from Jeddah for Bacha Khan International Airport at 7:25am but it departed for Peshawar at 8:30am.

An official of the airlines, when approached, said that technical fault caused delay in flight, but he did not explain nature of the fault. “Flight delayed due to technical fault,” he said.

Late arrival of flight caused inconvenience to the passengers as well as their relatives, who came from far flung areas to receive them. Officials said that two flights carrying 697 pilgrims arrived in Peshawar.

Akhtar Munir, who arrived on PIA flight, said that they were boarded at 5am and the plane took off at around 6:30am. “It was terrible journey and passengers waited inside the plane for several hours without refreshment,” he added.

The pilgrims and their relatives also faced inconvenience at the airport owing to poor arrangements.—Bureau Report