PIA to increase flights to Northern areas as summer kicks off in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced additional flights to northern areas of the country as the citizens brace themselves for the scorching heat of summer.

The national airline’s spokesperson has confirmed that additional flights will be operated to the northern regions soon, adding that two-way flights from Islamabad to Chitral will be included in the operation from May 18th.

PIA will operate two weekly flights, the spokesperson noted. 

It bears mentioning that the national carrier has also recently announced to operate two-way flights from Dubai to Skardu which will be started from April 29th.

The developments come as the national carrier is being privatized by the federal government for which the preparations have been finalized.

The calls for privatizing the airline were made during the previous regime and the follow-up deliberations also led to promulgation of the Privatisation Ordinance to remove the role of high courts in privatization transactions aimed at avoiding legal hitches.

The state-owned Pakistan International Airlines has been under fire for denting a severe blow to the national exchequer and facing hiccups due to multiple factors. Time and again, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) freezes its accounts while Pakistan State Oil (PSO) also refuses to supply oil to the carrier.

The airline recently settled a dispute with an Indonesian firm and got possession of two of its aircraft though the airline failed to prove itself sustainable in the long term which has forced the policymakers to finally do away with it and hand it over to a private investor.

Pakistan is not only privatizing this national carrier but is also in the process of outsourcing operations at three of its airports i.e. Jinnah International Airport Karachi Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore and Islamabad International Airport.

As per the announcements made by the government, the Islamabad International Airport would be outsourced first for 15 years after which the remaining two airports would be outsourced to improve efficiency and public service delivery.