Travel expert and aviation vlogger, Noel Philips, recently released a vlog, sharing his experience of travelling on Pakistan International Airline (PIA) that is now banned in Europe and the United States (US) after it was revealed by the aviation minister that a large number of commercial pilots hold fake licenses.

Noel shared his experience in a video titled ‘Flying a banned airline – Pakistan International Airline‘.

Phillips said he was quite surprised after “seeing so many people with so much excess baggage”. As he entered the plane, he was welcomed and guided to his seat by a PIA official. 

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He then shared that a few passengers were shouting on flight attendants.

“Most of the customers are onboard and a few people are on wrong seats and we’ve got passengers shouting at flight attendants and things, flight attendants running around with bits of paper in the hands.”

Because of the chaos, the flight took off half an hour later than the scheduled time. 

Phillips said he liked the food served on his flight.

Sharing the cons, he said he was shocked to see garbage under the seats after he pushed his seat back. He further said that when he laid down to take some rest, he was woken up by “the unmistakable smell of cigarette smoke.” 

 “Passengers are strictly prohibited from smoking onboard PIA flights. I mean, there is a sign and everything and I am sure that not a single member of the crew or passengers would ever want to bend those rules, not on PIA surely.”

Phillips, who flew from India to Islamabad, said that he liked the capital’s scenic views, the hospitality of Pakistani people and masala curries. 

He wanted to share what people think about PIA through his vlog and was of the opinion that even a little amount of investment can improve the airlines.

“And I really do think that given a little bit of investment in their aircraft, PIA could be up there with some of the best airlines,” he said while signing off.