Islamabad Court Orders Airblue to Pay Rs5.41 Billion to Families of 2010 Plane Crash Victims

More than a decade after Pakistan’s deadliest aviation tragedy, a court in Islamabad has delivered a landmark verdict. The District and Sessions Courts have ordered private airline Airblue to pay Rs5.41 billion in compensation to the families of victims who lost their lives in the 2010 plane crash near the Margalla Hills.

The ruling follows the dismissal of all appeals filed by the airline and marks a significant development in one of the country’s longest-running aviation compensation cases.

Court Dismisses Airblue’s Appeals

According to court documents, the District and Sessions Courts Islamabad rejected all eight appeals filed by Airblue in connection with the crash. The appeals challenged earlier compensation claims filed by the victims’ families.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Dr. Rasool Bakhsh Mirjat issued the written verdict, concluding that the airline failed to establish grounds for overturning earlier findings. As a result, the court upheld enhanced compensation amounts for the affected families.

Furthermore, the court imposed an Rs8 million fine on Airblue for filing repeated appeals and consuming judicial time.

Compensation Breakdown Ordered by the Court

The verdict outlined individual compensation amounts for several families. The court ordered Airblue to pay:

• Rs143.189 million to Samira Naveed Choudhry and two others

• Rs630.94 million to Rashid Zulfiqar and four others

• Rs1.101 billion to Muhammad Ilyas

• Rs507.348 million to Gohar Rehman

• Rs996.048 million to Junaid Al-Zaman Hamid

• Rs857.025 million to Muhammad Javed Khan

• Rs572.666 million to Salima Rajput

• Rs606 million to Colonel (R) Shameem Akhtar

Collectively, these amounts bring the total compensation to Rs5.41 billion.

Background of the Legal Proceedings

The families of the victims initially challenged a civil judge’s decision that allowed compensation of up to Rs10 million per individual. Dissatisfied with the limited relief, they pursued further legal action.

Subsequently, the Islamabad High Court reviewed the matter and referred the case back to the Sessions Judge’s jurisdiction for reconsideration. This referral led to the reassessment of compensation amounts and the latest verdict.

The court noted that compensation must reflect the scale of loss suffered by the families and the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Airblue Flight 202: Pakistan’s Deadliest Aviation Incident

Airblue Flight 202 was operating a domestic service from Karachi to Islamabad on July 28, 2010. During its final approach to Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport, the aircraft went down in the Margalla Hills amid adverse weather conditions.

All 152 people on board, including 146 passengers and six crew members, lost their lives. The incident remains the deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan’s history.

Investigations later pointed to a combination of poor weather, navigational errors, and inadequate situational awareness during the landing approach.

Legal and Industry Implications

The verdict carries important implications for Pakistan’s aviation and legal landscape. It reinforces judicial accountability in commercial aviation operations and sets a precedent for compensation standards in large-scale incidents.

Legal experts note that the ruling underscores the responsibility of airlines toward passengers and their families. At the same time, it highlights the judiciary’s willingness to revisit earlier compensation frameworks when deemed insufficient.

For the aviation sector, the case serves as a reminder of the long-term legal and financial consequences of operational failures.