Once in a while you’ll hear a story of someone accidentally ending up on a flight they didn’t intend to take. However, here’s an especially bad example of that…
In this post:
AirSial sends man to Jeddah instead of Karachi
On the evening of July 7, 2025, a Pakistani electrical engineer named Malik Shahzain was supposed to fly from Lahore (LHE) to Karachi (KHI) with AirSial, a private Pakistani airline.
He arrived at the airport on schedule, and even checked in his bag for the correct flight, and then headed to the departure gate. That’s when things went wrong — instead of boarding a 634-mile domestic flight, he ended up on a 2,273-mile international flight, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (JED).
According to the passenger, “there were two AirSial aeroplanes on the tarmac, one headed to Karachi and the other to Jeddah,” and “the staff, without checking properly, put me on the international flight, and I only realised this when, even after two hours of flying time, we did not land.”
Upon arrival in Jeddah, the man was questioned by immigration officials “for hours,” as he didn’t have his passport on him. Eventually they believed his version of events — that he was truly put on the incorrect flight — and authorities directed the airline to put him on the next flight back to Pakistan.
Even then, the ordeal wasn’t over. The man was accommodated on a flight to Lahore, his origin point, and airline officials told him that he’d have to arrange his own ticket to Karachi. As you’d expect, the man is angry about how this played out, saying “I underwent a 15-hour ordeal where I ended up in Jeddah and had to endure hours of interrogation.”
His bag ended up in Karachi, as it was supposed to, making the situation even worse. As of now, the traveler hasn’t received a formal response or apology from the airline, which is something he is demanding.
Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the incident, with an official stating that “a passenger boarding the wrong flight by mistake can happen, but we have never come across a case where a domestic passenger ended up on an international flight.”
A lot has to go wrong for this mistake to happen
Millions of people travel by air every single day, so of course things are bound to go wrong every once in a while. However, the number of things that had to go wrong here is quite remarkable. It’s one thing if someone were trying to sneak onto the wrong flight, but that wasn’t the case here. Looking at this situation:
- First the man had to be directed onto the wrong aircraft, somehow, with no sort of verification of his boarding pass
- Then the man had to sit down in a seat that wasn’t otherwise occupied, or if there was a duplicate seating issue, the crew presumably didn’t follow the correct procedures
- Then the man had to have not noticed throughout the boarding process that the flight was bound for Saudi Arabia; you’d think there would have been an announcement from the crew about the destination, the flight time, etc., or even just conversation with fellow passengers
It must’ve been quite the awkward moment when at some point during the flight, the man fully processed that he was on a flight to Jeddah, and not Karachi.
Bottom line
A traveler who intended to take a domestic flight within Pakistan ended up in Saudi Arabia instead, after boarding the wrong flight. There were reportedly two aircraft on the apron, and somehow he ended up on the wrong one, and the mistake wasn’t caught until well into the flight.
He ended up being interrogated in Saudi Arabia for hours, before ultimately being returned to Lahore, and being told he’d have to make his own way to Karachi, the destination he had purchased a ticket for.
What do you make of this AirSial flight debacle?
I’m perplexed by how an international and a domestic flight could board from the same area for this to occur. Wouldn’t international flights typically board from a sterile area after immigration?
In the US international and domestic flights board from adjacent gates as the whole airside is considered sterile and there are only ID checks not outbound immigration as such.
Probably bus gate
Honestly, he says "staff put me on the wrong plane" though I never saw boarding where staff would decide for you on what plane you go (except for F in cases you are driven to your plane). I haven't flown out of LHE, so maybe they don't have individual boarding gates, but I think it is likely he went to the wrong gate and they didn't notice it which would still make it at least partly his fault.
Pilots without licenses. Planes that are not airworthy.
Why should we expect more from this terrible airline?
We are acting like stuff like this doesn't happen in the US, like the Frontier Airlines passenger who got sent from PHL to Jamaica without a passport or the 16 year old teen who was sent from TPA to SJU instead of CLE.
What strikes me is that this could have never even been a story had the airline simply apologized, put him on a flight to the right place, and maybe refunded him or given him a credit or something. Small change in the grand scheme of things, especially compared to what is probably a bunch of negative press they're now getting for apparently not doing any of that.
So his bag went to correct destination and yet he being forced to buy a brand new ticket for a mistake of the airline, awesome!
What is most surprising to me is that a flight from Lahore to Jeddah would have at least some people wearing the all white religious clothing clothing (ihram) for those going for Umrah. One would think that the guy would notice that.
I once boarded a IAH (Houston) - MSY flight when I was ticketed to the IAH-MIA flight boarding from the next gate. I heard the announcement and told the flight attendant that I was on the wrong plane and got on the correct flight in the nick of time.
That was a relief because I had a connecting flight in Miami.
Usually the flights to Jeddah are fully packed (due to lots of Muslims going to pilgrimage to Makkah via Jeddah) so I am wondering how could he get the seat on the aircraft? if there happen to be a passenger on same seat as him?
At the door, usually air hostess check the boarding pass and more importantly he didn't heard the captain pre-flight announcement the destination of the flight?
Wouldn't the airlines re-route...
Usually the flights to Jeddah are fully packed (due to lots of Muslims going to pilgrimage to Makkah via Jeddah) so I am wondering how could he get the seat on the aircraft? if there happen to be a passenger on same seat as him?
At the door, usually air hostess check the boarding pass and more importantly he didn't heard the captain pre-flight announcement the destination of the flight?
Wouldn't the airlines re-route the flight if the passenger inform the crew he is on wrong flight?
It might depend on when he figured it out. If they were already most of the way there, an airline could plausibly just decide that any fine for sending him to the wrong place was cheaper than the cost of re-routing the flight and having to pay for the fuel and whatever they'd need to pay for pax inconvenience.
I recall a situation some 15 years ago or so, which is quite wild, that 2 un-accompanied minors where to go to Oakland, CA ( OAK ) but wound up on a flight to Auckland ( AKL ) New Zealand. I can't remember where in the US they originated but I recall ( and may be mistaken ) that United was involved in this. Anyone else remember this ?
There was an Air New Zealand flight from London (perhaps Gatwick?) to Los Angeles with continuing service to Auckland. The man was ticketed with a connection to Oakland. However, the pronunciation of Auckland in the NZ accent sounds sort of like "Oakland". He stayed on board and realized that something was wrong when he was in the air for 2 hours.
The man was white and a native English speaker.
“ before ultimately being returned to Karachi, and being told he’d have to make his own way to Lahore, the destination he had purchased a ticket for.”
@ben
Was the flight not going from Lahore to Karachi? Was he sent back to Lahore or Karachi? And where did he want to go?
the article clearly says he was sent back to his origin point, not his actual destination.
@Kelly P
So was the origin Lahore or Karachi?
HIS BAGGAGE IS ALREADY SENT TO KHI WHY THEY ARE SENDING HIM BACK TO LHE
POINT OF ORIGIN IT IS NOT RIGHT THEIR RESPONSIBILITY IS TO SEND HIM TO KHI WHERE HIS BAGGAGE IS WAITING FOR HIM
@Natarajan Sivsubramanian
Calm down, why would you have to be mad?
Throughout the article it seems he was supposed to fly from Lahore to Karachi. He ended up on a flight to Jeddah.
The last sentence which I highlighted states that he was sent back to Karachi. But I thought part of the issue was that he was supposed to end up in Karachi but they sent him back to Lahore?
If as you say @Kelly P he was sent back to his origin. Was the origin Lahore or Karachi? The part I quoted says he was sent back to Karachi??
It always baffles me how this happens. This is not about booking a flight to Melbourne Australia then realising that there's another in the US.
Isn't it normal for crew to check your boarding pass upon boarding and tell you to turn left or right or sth or is that only in a few countries like in the EU? Hell even the Easyjet 'Buspark' at MXP where you have numerous Easyjet flights boarding from the...
It always baffles me how this happens. This is not about booking a flight to Melbourne Australia then realising that there's another in the US.
Isn't it normal for crew to check your boarding pass upon boarding and tell you to turn left or right or sth or is that only in a few countries like in the EU? Hell even the Easyjet 'Buspark' at MXP where you have numerous Easyjet flights boarding from the tarmac someone checks your boarding pass once you actually board the plane.
This is also someone who can't be bothered to listen to cabin crew announcements and safety instructions and instead possibly listening to music or watching videos on phone.
I doubt he'll get a cent back from the airline.
The gate agent checks boarding passes, not the flight crew. Although clearly that failed here. Side note, I once was trying to fly to Albuquerque, New Mexico, the travel agent (this was back in the late 80's) asked me for my passport information. I politely informed her that New Mexico is one of the 50 United States.... she hung up on me. I still laugh about that.
American once booked me out of Springfield, Missouri, rather than Illinois. It was their mistake as for various reasons I booked the trip over the phone with an agent rather than online. I only caught the mistake once I was already in Springfield (IL) (I took the train down from Chicago). When I called they initially tried to fight me but fixed it without charge either took my word that since my trip was in...
American once booked me out of Springfield, Missouri, rather than Illinois. It was their mistake as for various reasons I booked the trip over the phone with an agent rather than online. I only caught the mistake once I was already in Springfield (IL) (I took the train down from Chicago). When I called they initially tried to fight me but fixed it without charge either took my word that since my trip was in Illinois and why would I have requested a flight out of Missouri, or they listened to the audio from my call to make the reservation and realized it was their mistake.