Pakistani passengers travelling abroad on a visit visa, especially to Dubai, Bangkok, and Malaysia, now need a round-trip ticket with the same airline.
If tickets are from different airlines, they must share the same PNR number. Furthermore, according to recent documents, ‘low profile’ passengers will undergo checks at airports.
Correspondence between the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) prompted this policy. It aims to address issues where passengers faced boarding denials due to mismatched PNRs or different return airlines.
The FIA has raised concerns about numerous “low-profile passengers” travelling to Malaysia and Thailand with different ticket numbers under the same PNR. This situation allowed some travel agents to refund the return tickets, stranding passengers abroad if they faced entry denial and deportation. As a result, passengers had to pay the airline after already paying the travel agents.
To combat this, the FIA now requires that boarding passes be issued only to passengers whose ticket numbers match. This measure aims to protect passengers from exploitation by some travel agents.
A CAA letter states this rule applies to airlines flying to countries where returning with the same airline is a border control requirement. Airlines from other countries can continue selling tickets as usual.
The FIA and CAA have notified all domestic and international airlines about these regulations.
