Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has reported a 30 per cent drop in bookings from Bahrain during the Eid holidays.

This is largely due to the situation in Pakistan, which is still recovering from its worst-ever floods.

All flights are operating normally, but Pakistanis are simply choosing not to travel home for Eid, said PIA Bahrain-based office general manager Muhammad Ayaz.

'We always have good business from Bahrain and flights are mostly full, especially for the Eid holidays,' said Ayaz. 'It was always 100 per cent, but now only 70 per cent seats are booked and that's because people have called off their holidays to Pakistan due to the impact the flood had on the country.

'Many people want to go back and see their families, but unfortunately they can't as the situation is really bad. This is leading to a drop as many people prefer to stay in Bahrain rather than go back home.”

'Normally, there is so much rush leading up to the Eid holidays, but now we have a lower capacity of passengers. We are hoping that it will improve gradually after the country stabilises following the natural disaster, that destroyed one-fifth of the country,” he added.

PIA operates a weekly flight on Friday from Bahrain to Karachi and on Saturday to Lahore. – TradeArabia News Service