LAHORE: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has retracted the policy which made it compulsory to wrap baggage with plastic. The decision was made after the policy was met with widespread criticism and social media backlash.
Earlier, CAA had ordered all air travellers to have their checked baggage shrink-wrapped, drawing scorn and criticism from frequent flyers and environmentalists.
CAA Director-General Shahrukh Nusrat explained that wrapping baggage, being done for “safety” purposes, was “mandatory”. Passengers would have to pay 50 rupees (about US$0.31) per bag for the wrapping, Nusrat said in a statement.
“For this purpose, new plastic-wrapping machines are being installed on an urgent basis,” he added.
Pakistan’s frequent flyers cast scorn on the edict, suggesting it had been introduced to enrich an unnamed company tasked with doing the wrapping.
