ISLAMABAD – In what appears to be a significant relief for China-bound passengers, the national carrier of Pakistan has resumed its much-awaited flights to China.
Pakistan International Airlines’ weekly passenger flights for China have started once again and the first flight in this regard landed in Beijing on Sunday; over 200 passengers were also on board as the plane flew off from Beijing for Islamabad.
PIA Country Manager, Bilal Afzal detailed that the national flag carrier will operate one weekly flight on the Islamabad-Beijing-Islamabad route every Sunday with departure from Beijing at 21:15.
The official also elaborated that passengers availing services of PIA could fly from Pakistan to 16 different cities in China as the carrier has entered into a partnership with Air China.
These Chinese cities include Guangzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Changchun, Hangzhou, Harbin and others.
Regarding the discount, the official highlighted that PIA offers a 20 percent discount for students with free baggage of 80 kg for economy class and 100 kg for executive economy respectively on flights between Pakistan and China though the passengers can avail further discounts if tickets are purchased online.
The one-way fare from Beijing to Islamabad is 3814 RMB and the fare for the return ticket is 5685 RMB, he added.
The resumption of flights has pleased the Pakistani community, especially businessmen and students who expressed joy over the availability of another option for their travel.
Besides China, Pakistan International Airlines is also trying to resume flights to the United Kingdom and other European destinations.
Direct flights between UK and Pakistan through Pakistan International Airlines are at a halt since July 2020. Not only that, direct flights through other carriers have also been affected.
At present, PIA’s vast network spans the globe, flying to 25 countries across Asia, Europe and North America, and to 24 cities within Pakistan.
In 2020, European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight operations for Europe over safety concerns.
EASA said that they had suspended the Third Country Operator (TCO) Authorisation to PIA after it failed to comply with the proposed corrective action plans (CAPs).
At least six findings were raised with the PIA officials during meetings in June and September 2019, out of which five of the action plans were implemented while one other concerning element of a Safety Management System was not implemented.
Efforts have been made by a member of the UK Parliament, Naz Shah to resume direct flights to Pakistan and in this regard, the MP wrote a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport of the United Kingdom, Mark Harper to permit direct flights between the two countries.
The lawmaker – in her communication in May this year – emphasized that around 2,70,000 Pakistanis residing in the UK are affected by the flight disruption between the two countries.
