Armed guards on Pakistan's flights

PIA's international flights will not have guards

Pakistan's flag carrier is to deploy armed guards on all its domestic flights as part of increased security following the attacks in the United States.

A spokesman for Pakistan International Airlines, Imran Gardezi, said that four guards would be placed on large Airbus and Boeing planes and two on smaller models.

The national carrier said no decision had been made about placing guards on the airline's international flights.

The airline had previously carried armed guards but had stopped the practice several years ago, a spokesman was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.

Flights suspended

In a separate development, Malaysia's national airline has become the latest carrier to suspend flights to Pakistan, citing security and commercial concerns.

Malaysian Airline System said it had suspended its twice-weekly flights until next week.

We are in a volatile region although we can say our airspace is safe

Pakistan civil aviation official

"It's not viable anymore, and also for security reasons we felt we should stop and monitor the situation," Wan Othman Mohammad Noor, the airline's manager in Pakistan, said.

On Thursday, Cathay Pacific Airways suspended its flight to Karachi - joining Singapore Airlines, Air China and Gulf Air who cancelled services earlier this week.

British Airways has also suspended its flights to the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

Concern

Analysts say the decisions follow concerns about possible military operations in the wake of the attacks on the United States two weeks ago.

They say the moves come amid a deepening global aviation crisis following the attacks.

"We are concerned because this situation is leading to a substantial loss in revenue from landing and overfly rights," an official at Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority said.

"The situation is likely to remain and could worsen if [military] operations start. We are in a volatile region although we can say our airspace is safe," he said.