Is Canadian airline Zara Airways starting flight operations in Pakistan? Read details on viral story here

ISLAMABAD - Passengers traveling between Pakistan and Canada were relieved to read reports on media outlets that a Canadian airline is set to start operations in Pakistan.

The reports said 'ZARA Airways' has shown interest to operate direct flights between the two countries and a request has formally been forwarded to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in Pakistan.

Without quoting any official source, it was also revealed that flight operation would tentatively begin from August this year and three weekly flights will be scheduled from Toronto to Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. 

Daily Pakistan has gone through the details of the news story and has found out that Zara Airways named airline is non-existent at present. Sifting through pages of google, it is virtually impossible to find any airline with this name; however, media outlets are reporting a story regarding its flight operations from Pakistan.

Moreover, there has been no official confirmation or any website belonging to the airline to endorse the same. It is virtually impossible for an airline not to have any website in current times which confirms that the news is fake and not rooted in reality, at least as of now as Zara Airways does not exist at all.

Pakistan's Aviation Industry

There has been a complete shift in the aviation industry of Pakistan recently. For instance, the industry is fast changing with the closure of a few airlines and the entry of new players. A few months earlier, British airline Virgin Atlantic announced to close operations in Pakistan citing ‘low yield operations’. On the other hand, Ethiopian Airlines has resumed operations in the country this month after a gap of 19 years. 

Moreover, famous Wizz Air Abu Dhabi will soon begin flights to and from Pakistan as it has been given go-ahead by the federal government; the operation of flights from Pakistan would serve consumers who travel to UAE on a regular basis for business, leisure or fun.

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is a low-cost airline and is a joint venture with state-owned ADQ (formerly, Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company, ADDH), which owns 51 percent with Wizz Air Holdings owning the remaining 49 percent. The carrier's first flight took off on the 19th of May 2004 from Katowice to London Luton and boasts a fleet of 153 ultramodern Airbus A320 family aircraft.

Furthermore, Azerbaijan has recently announced that direct flights would be operated between Pakistan and Baku soon to give a boost to tourism which is fast recovering owing to the lifting of restrictions imposed after the Covid-19 pandemic.  

As far as Pakistan is concerned, currently, carriers are facing challenges in repatriating dollars because of the low foreign exchange reserves of the country. 

Air carriers sell tickets in local currency but then they need to repatriate dollars to pay for expenses such as fuel and maintenance charges and certainly a delay in the process dents their financial balance; the volume of dollars withheld has spiked to $290 million as of January.