IN civilised countries, all markets, of fices and business houses pull down their shutters at around 5pm. So much so that most airports, too, are closed or operate with the bare minimal staf f at night to cater to the few flights that are allowed to operate beyond a specific time. This is done to cut down noise pollution and allow those in the vicinity to sleep well af ter a hard day`s work.

In Pakistan, we have developed a habit of getting up late in the morning and going to bed late, thus squandering the most productive part of the day. That could be one reason that our gross domestic product (GDP) does not grow.

Taking advantage of our living/sleeping habits, most foreign airlines belonging to the Middle East take us for granted and the air trafhccontinues atnight,causing inconvenience to the passengers and airport management staff. If anything, there is much more air traffic at night than during the day.

The international airlines, especially the ones that operate from the Middle East, now have the good fortune to operate from almost all airports under the `open skies` policy in Pakistan. Thus, they fully exploit the situation by carrying the major passenger load for onward journeys to Europe, Americas and Australia.

The passengers are provided a transitat one of the Middle Eastern airports for a connecting flight which sometimes involves a layover for as long as 12 hours.

One can well imagine the 24-28 hours` worth of ordeal, inconvenience, f atigue, disturbance, torture and agony which the transit passengers have to endure, all because the airlines have to adjust their arrival and departure time so that their flights may land during daylight in the Western world.

The million-dollar question is: why can`t we have the luxury of sleeping the night at home instead of sitting in discomfort and dozing off at airports? Alternatively, why can`t these foreign airlines operate directly f rom Pakistan to foreign destinations instead of first taking them for a ride to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha or any other destination in that region? Muhammad K Suf i Islamabad