Every Flight I've Taken: 24 Flights on 11 Airlines from Pakistan, and What Went Wrong
From my first Saudia flight in 2022 to Gulf Air via Bahrain: every flight, the routes, and the stories, including a Wizz Air denied boarding, a missed flynas flight, 17 hours in Colombo and 3 days stuck in Sharjah.
By Hafiz Tayyab · 28 October 2026 · 2 min read
Wizz Air
Booked, but not allowed to board in Baku.
flynas
Missed in Jeddah. Went to Riyadh by taxi instead.
Colombo
17 hours in the airport on the way to Bangkok.
Sharjah
3 days stuck on the way to Nepal.
People often ask me which airlines I've flown and which were good. So here's the full list, trip by trip, with what actually happened. As of now that's about 24 flights on 11 airlines.
2022: First Umrah
| Flight | Airline |
|---|---|
| Pakistan → Jeddah | Saudia |
| Jeddah → Pakistan | Saudia |
My first ever international flights. The story.
2023: Umrah with my brother, then Baku
| Flight | Airline |
|---|---|
| Karachi → Abu Dhabi | Etihad Airways |
| Abu Dhabi → Jeddah | Etihad Airways |
| Jeddah → Baku | flynas |
| Baku → Lahore | PIA |
Before Karachi we took the train from Sargodha via Faisalabad. In Abu Dhabi we had a long layover.
On the way home I'd booked Wizz Air out of Baku, but they didn't let me board. I flew home on PIA instead. Baku story.
(Afghanistan earlier that year was by road, through Torkham.)
2024: Ramadan Umrah
| Flight | Airline |
|---|---|
| Faisalabad → Dubai | flydubai |
| Dubai → Jeddah | flydubai |
| Jeddah → Pakistan | PIA |
I changed into Ihram in the Dubai transit. In Makkah I had to walk 4 km to the PIA office to sort out the separate return booking. Ramadan story.
2024: Thailand and Malaysia
| Flight | Airline |
|---|---|
| Lahore → Colombo | SriLankan Airlines |
| Colombo → Bangkok | SriLankan Airlines |
| Bangkok → Phuket | AirAsia |
| Phuket → Kuala Lumpur | AirAsia |
| Kuala Lumpur → Colombo | SriLankan Airlines |
| Colombo → Pakistan | SriLankan Airlines |
17 hours stuck in Colombo on the way out, 14 on the way back. Colombo story.
2025: Nepal, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia
| Flight | Airline |
|---|---|
| Faisalabad → Sharjah | Air Arabia |
| Sharjah → Kathmandu | Air Arabia |
| Kathmandu → Jakarta | Batik Air (Malindo) |
| Jakarta → Bali | Domestic flight |
| Jakarta → Mumbai | IndiGo |
| Mumbai → Jeddah | IndiGo |
| Riyadh → AlUla | Saudia |
| Jeddah → Bahrain | Gulf Air |
| Bahrain → Pakistan | Gulf Air |
The stories: nearly offloaded at Faisalabad, 3 days stuck in Sharjah while Nepal was in turmoil, and missing my flynas flight from Jeddah to Riyadh, so I went by taxi. Nepal · Indonesia · Jeddah to Riyadh · AlUla.
2026: Pakistan by road
The Northern Pakistan trip was all by coaster, no flights. Road trip to Hunza.
What all these flights taught me
- Cheapest isn't cheapest if the layover is 17 hours.
- Low-cost airlines are strict. Read every rule about bags, documents and check-in time.
- Gates close on time in the Gulf. Be early.
- Carry printed documents for Pakistani airports: return ticket, hotel bookings, funds.
- Stay calm. Every one of these problems got solved in the end.
My full travel history, year by year, is on the About page.
Questions people ask
How many airlines has Hafiz Tayyab flown?
Eleven: Saudia, Etihad Airways, flynas, PIA, flydubai, SriLankan Airlines, AirAsia, Air Arabia, Batik Air (Malindo), IndiGo and Gulf Air, plus a domestic flight from Jakarta to Bali.
Which was his first flight?
Saudia from Pakistan to Jeddah for his first Umrah on 5 December 2022.
Has a Pakistani passport caused problems in transit?
Yes: a 17-hour wait in Colombo on the way to Bangkok, and a near offload at Faisalabad airport before the Nepal trip. Transiting through Mumbai on IndiGo worked.
Keep reading
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