KARACHI: A passenger was arrested by French police this week for attacking members of a cabin crew after he was told not to smoke on a Paris-bound Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight, the national airline’s spokesperson said. 

The incident took place on the Islamabad-Paris PIA flight PK-749 on Sunday after a woman flight attendant told a passenger to stop smoking, the airline said. The passenger refused and behaved rudely, prompting the crew and the captain to intervene. 

The PIA said the passenger injured the flight attendant’s arm by grabbing and twisting it and punching her on the back. He also attacked the flight steward and the captain, but they managed to snatch the cigarette from the passenger. 

“The captain informed French authorities during the flight as per the rules, and police arrested the passenger upon the plane’s arrival in Paris,” the PIA spokesperson said in a statement on Monday. 

“A police report has been filed after recording the statements of the flight attendants and having them medically examined.” 

The spokesperson said that French laws are very strict in this matter, hoping that the passenger will not be granted any concession. 

“The passenger has been blacklisted by the PIA and he will not be able to travel on the national airline again,” the spokesperson said. 

He commended the PIA’s staff for tackling the matter professionally, adding that the law would now take its due course. 

The PIA began operating flights to Paris for the first time in four years from January this year. Its authorization to operate flights to the European Union had been suspended by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in June 2020 over concerns about the ability of Pakistani aviation authorities to ensure compliance with international standards.

The national airline operates two weekly flights to Paris.