On board Shaheen Air: Emergency exit, anyone?
I recently had to make an official trip from Islamabad to Karachi and Shaheen Air turned out to be the only option given my meeting schedule. My misgivings about travelling on Shaheen (given its bad reputation) were further fuelled by news of the Bhoja Air crash near Rawalpindi – an incident that had happened only two days ago, in which all 121 passengers as well as crew members had lost their lives. With these worries on my mind, I boarded the Shaheen Air flight NL122, a Boeing 737 (same as the crashed Bhoja aircraft), on the morning of April 22, 2012. To the pilot’s credit, the ...
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Smiling through a bad day
I disembarked the airplane thinking of how discontent I was with the 35 hour journey. I was determined to write letters of complaint to the involved airline for their disorganized conduct. Now, I had a total of 12 hours of nothing to do. I felt vexed and disgusted. I found a secluded bench, dropped my bag, and sat down to engage in what travelers typically do at airports – people-watching. After looking around for several hours, I came across an elderly gentleman who would not stop smiling. It seemed that nothing could faze this man. He entertained a couple to whom ...
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I worry about my religion
It’s a chilly night in Beijing as I’m weaving my way in and out a very packed aisle to board my flight to Karachi. I get to my seat after some effort. Every time I get my seat assignment, I secretly hope that it’s someone nice and intelligent sitting next to me; you know, someone I can make conversation with. Ah, 23L, here it is. I look up to see a middle-aged man in a shalwar kameez, vest and hat. No problem; I point to the window seat saying “idhar”. The man, instead of being courteous by getting up to ...
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