A cabin crew member of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flew to Canada on Tuesday, but she went abruptly missing after landing, Pakistani news agency Dawn reported. The air hostess was identified as Maryam Raza. She landed in Canada's Toronto on PIA flight PK-782 from Islamabad on Monday. However, she failed to report for duty on the return flight, PK-784 to Karachi. Notably, Ms Raza is one of the several PIA staffers who have "vanished" in Canada in recent years.
According to Dawn Ms Raza joined the national flag carrier 15 years ago. She was assigned to the flight from Islamabad to Toronto on Monday. But after landing in Canada on Tuesday, the PIA crew member didn't report for duty on her return flight to Karachi a day later. When the authorities started looking for Ms Raza, they opened her hotel room and found her PIA uniform along with a note reading "Thank You, PIA".
An airline's spokesperson said that Ms Raza's disappearance marks the second such instance this year, where a PIA stewardess disappeared upon arrival in Canada. Last month, another PIA flight crew member Fazia Mukhtar went abruptly missing in a similar way. The outlet reported that Ms Mukhtar was rostered to fly back to Karachi a day after landing in Canada, but she didn't board the flight and disappeared. Officials attributed this trend to the accommodating nature of Canadian law, which allows for asylum applications after entry into the country.
The carrier's spokesman said one of the crew members who had slipped away while on duty some years ago has now settled in Canada and "advises" other crew members mulling asylum. He added that the PIA management has been coordinating with Canadian authorities to stop such incidents in future.