At least seven PIA crew members went missing in Canada last year. (representative picture)

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) crew member flew to Canada on Tuesday but disappeared after landing, the Pakistan News Agency reported. dawn the report said. The flight attendant was identified as Maryam Raza. On Monday, she took PIA flight PK-782 from Islamabad to Toronto, Canada. However, she failed to report for the return flight PK-784 to Karachi. It is worth noting that Ms. Raza is one of several PIA staff members who have “disappeared” in Canada in recent years.

according to dawnMs. Raza joined the national flag carrier 15 years ago. She was assigned a flight from Islamabad to Toronto on Monday. But after arriving in Canada on Tuesday, the PIA crew failed to check in for their flight back to Karachi a day later. When authorities began searching for Ms. Raza, they opened her hotel room and found her PIA uniform and a note that read “Thank you, PIA.”

An airline spokesman said Ms Raza’s disappearance was the second such incident this year, when a PIA flight attendant disappeared after arriving in Canada. Last month, another PIA crew member, Fawzia Mukhtar, suddenly disappeared in a similar manner. The outlet reported that Ms. Mukhtar was scheduled to fly back to Karachi a day after arriving in Canada, but she failed to board the flight and disappeared.

Officials attribute the trend to the inclusivity of Canadian law, which allows asylum applications to be made upon entry into the country.

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According to reports, the trend of Pakistani flight attendants disappearing after landing in Canada began in 2019. Last year, at least seven Pakistani air hostesses disappeared while flying in Canada.

In November, Dawn reported that two senior flight attendants escaped from a PIA flight from Islamabad in Canada shortly after it landed in Toronto. The two flight attendants, Khalid Mehmood and Feda Hussain, arrived in Canada from Islamabad on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK772. A PIA spokesman said after arriving in Toronto, they slipped away and did not return to the country.

A spokesperson for the airline said one of the crew members who slipped away on a mission several years ago has now settled in Canada and is “advising” other crew members considering seeking asylum. He added that PIA management has been coordinating with Canadian authorities to prevent such incidents from happening in the future.