Saudi aviation officials deny plane landed at wrong destination

Saudi aviation officials have denied reports that a flight bound for Riyadh landed at Jeddah by mistake.

Saudi news site Sabq reported on Sunday that a Pakistan International Airlines flight from Karachi to Riyadh landed 1,000 km away in Jeddah instead.  

However,  on Monday an official from the Saudi aviation authority denied the report.

“There is no way that a plane lands at Jeddah airport instead of Riyadh. All inbound and outbound flights follow a specific schedule approved by the General Authority of Civil Aviation,” Khaled Bin Abdullah Al-Khabiri, the spokesperson for the authority, told Sabq.

PIA operates multiple flights to both Jeddah and Riyadh.

Flight 731 flies from Karachi to Jeddah five times a week (Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) while Flight 732 departs from Jeddah.

Flight 729 from Karachi to Riyadh is scheduled for Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday with Flight 730 being the return flight.

The earlier report said 200 passengers were shocked to find out they had landed at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah instead of their intended destination of King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital and were seeking financial compensation.