KARACHI: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight en-route to Kuala Lumpur on Monday was diverted to Karachi owing to certain mid-flight technical reasons.

“However, the flight PK-898 was replaced at Karachi airport with another plane that took off for Malaysian capital at 4 am (PST),” according to PIA spokesman Danyal Gilani.

The national flag carrier’s spokesman snubbed media reports that said the plane faced technical glitch owing to the burst of hydraulic pipes. However, he did not disclose the actual reason for diversion.

Gilani remarked, “The aircraft was diverted as a ‘precautionary measure’ to Karachi because the airline’s engineering maintenance station is situated there.”

The flight PK-898 landed belatedly in Kuala Lumpur at 2:14pm owing to the diversion; though it was scheduled to land at 10 am.