Pakistan airports in chaos as national airline staff strike

Flight operations across Pakistan have come to a near standstill as staff of national flag carrier, PIA, staged walkout protest against the death of two of their colleagues.

Danial Gilani, a spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), confirmed that the flights were suspended as employees went on strike at airports in major cities across the country on Wednesday.

"Everything is shut now and flight operations have come to a complete halt," Gilani said.

The angry protesters at Karachi Airport chanted anti-government slogans and called on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to reverse the bill that would make the carrier a public limited company.

Islamabad has already enacted the so-called Essential Services law, which bans unions for six months from staging national strikes.

Meanwhile, Suhail Baluch, a union leader of Pakistan's national airline, has vowed to continue protest until their demands are met.

ME