Islamabad
 

I combed through the Destinations forum and didn't see Pakistan listed, if this is in the wrong forum please move.

I am considering flying out of Islamabad with my wife and 10 year old son in March. We wouldn't be visiting, simply connecting. My departing flight would leave around 9am on British Airways and I have two options on connecting flights to get us TO Islamabad, one that arrives at 1:40am (Qatar) and another that arrives at 6:35am (Oman.). We would have lounge access, and it seems the new lounge there is not horrible, but 7 hours is more than I care to sit in a lounge that doesn't have a place to rest.

We would be all carry-on luggage, no checked bags. Is 2.5 hours enough connection time on separate tickets? I know neighboring India has a horrible time of delayed flights, wasn't sure if ISB suffered the same issues.

Thanks in advance for guidance.

What is the routing and reason?

Routing to ISB would be from Muscat or Doha, leaving would be the direct flight to London. Reason, very cheap airfare.

With separate tickets you are not connecting. Just the end of one flight and start of another at the same airport.
Have you checked passport/visa requirements? The first airline will want to check you are OK to enter Pakistan, as that is where they are taking you.
You may need to process immigration, go landside to check in and back through immigration. Check-in for the second flight will close xx min before departure. The time of 2:30hr is not a lot between schedules arrival and scheduled departure (effectively you will have less than that). Little to nil allowance for delays.

I wouldn't do it. It's not worth the extra time and stress for a cheap business class ticket. Economy QR DOH-LHR day flight would be much better.

That's why I'm asking here, this type of transit doesn't seem to be clearly defined anywhere, similar to the Algeria situation at the old airport. That wasn't defined anywhere on the internet until a few people here took this fares (myself included) and posted their experiences. I've left messages with the LA, Houston and DC Pakistan offices with no response. Oman Air said they would have no issues allowing me to fly as long as I had an onward ticket.

I've connected through both Cairo and Algeria for the same reason, I can't imagine a situation would be any weirder than Algeria where they make you stand and wait for over an hour to hand process your passport because they don't have an official transit area.

If I have an onward ticket why would it be treated any differently than any other transfer? We are all carry-on so no baggage claim to deal with. Do they not have an official transit process in ISB?

Here is some wording I found

https://pakistan.travisa.com/VisaInstructions.aspx?CitizenshipID=US&CountryID=P K&TravelerTypeID=TR&ResidenceID=US&PartnerID=TA

A visa is not required for direct airside transit through this destination. Traveler must be in possession of a valid passport and onward ticket, and must remain in the airport's transit area.

Nobody can predict cancellations or delays. Since you don’t have a connection, you risk having to buy a new ticket if you don’t present yourself for on time boarding.

The cancellation fee on the ISB ticket is $19, so I’m fine as long as I know of the delay before I depart on my MCT-ISB flight, I’ll have a backup award ticket from MCT just in case.

i know the ultimate risk, I was asking specifically related to ISB and hopefully someone that had transited the airport before.

Some airports are much worse than others, and some are particularly bad a certain times of the day. For all I know a 6:35 arrival at ISB is rush hour for them.

I assume no one replying here has flown to or transited the new airport in ISB?

You appear to be throwing out two questions covering separate issues:

the feasibility of an airside self-connect on separate tickets. This should be straightforward, once Oman has accepted you on its flight. If Kathmandu can do it, and (as you say) Algiers, too: surely Islamabad can manage it. The nitty-gritties are something you are likely to have to discover yourself though. Certainly sensitize Oman and BA to the situation and their ground staff could well assist.

probabilities of delays. Who knows. Something out of the blue scuppered one of my two-ticket connections: scrutinising delay statistics wouldn't have helped. Since then I am very cautious. But you COULD look through historical flight information on Flightaware or any of the other we sites that record punctuality, to get an idea of the regular odds, and ignore the random elements of unservicable aircraft etc.



Taking on risk to save money is fine: but it's best to minimise the risk, rather than edge it back up restore comfort by cutting the connection time to a minimum. It would most likely turn out fine, but in the unexpected event that it does not it will be an expensive business to sort out travelling as a family group. My advice would be to bite the bullet and take the earlier flight from Muscat.

I think you may be missing the simple point I was making. As you do not have a connection, you have no protection. Even with a seven hour gap between two separate tickets at the world's most efficient airport, you will face buying a new ticket if your first flight is simply cancelled. Whether that flight is cheap or expensive is another matter, as is your personal tolerance for risk.

Sorry, I’m sure if we were talking this would have taken two seconds vs a few messages. I know well the idea of being on a single ticket vs two tickets with regards to protections, should have stated that up front. As you say it’s all about risk tolerance. I had gone back and looked at on time stats for the Oman flight, and booked the backup ticket from Oman knowing I could hop on it if the MCT-ISB flight was delayed. This question should have been stated more clearly as simply wanting to hear from someone who had transited Islamabad to gather another data point.

This makes no sense a all.

You've bought/booked two sets of flights between Muscat and Islamabad ?

A novel way to save money ;)

I stated in a previous message that I had an award ticket from MCT as a backup, I could clarify further by saying it’s an award ticket and I don’t pay any redeposit fees so there is no risk on that end. If my MCT-ISB looks in jeopardy I’m just not going to get on the flight. The ISB flight is $19 to change/cancel so no worries there either.

I’ve got a flexible schedule so if I have to hang out for a few days in Doha, DXB or AUH it’s not a big deal.

I’m just lucky to have a wife willing to go along with all of this.

I'm assume really you just want to know if anyone has previous experience of connecting?

What dates are you looking at going? I'm heading to ISB in two weeks so I could have a look around when I get there, but that maybe too late for you.