PIA, Turkish Airlines expand cooperation in connecting flights

Agreement provides passengers feasible connections, seamless travel opportunities

Agreement provides passengers feasible connections, seamless travel opportunities. DESIGN: EXPRESS

KARACHI:
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Turkish Airlines have agreed to expand cooperation in flying each other’s passengers to next destinations of connecting flights from February 1.

“The expanded codeshare cooperation provides passengers with more feasible connections as well as seamless travel opportunities between and beyond destinations of Turkey and Pakistan,” Turkish Airlines said in a statement issued after CEOs of the two airlines signed the expanded codeshare agreement.

Turkish Airlines would market PIA flights from Karachi and Islamabad to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat and from Lahore to Dubai and Abu Dhabi with its own airline code and flight number, the statement added.

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The agreement, on the other hand, has allowed Pakistan’s flag carrier to sell Turkish Airlines’ flights beyond Istanbul points of Atlanta, Johannesburg, Athens, Amsterdam, Tashkent, Moscow, Miami, Boston, Houston, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago with its own airline code and flight number.


This is in addition to the already existing cooperation on Istanbul-Karachi/ Islamabad/ Lahore routes, it further stated.

PIA CEO Bernd Hildenbrand said in the statement the codeshare expansion would “add more value to our commercial ties and be equally beneficial for our customers.”

“We will continue to explore more commercial avenues in the future as well,” he added.

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Turkish Airlines CEO and Deputy Chairman Bilal Eksi added that passengers would be able to travel with easier connections and more flexible alternatives.

“The more the frequencies between two countries in the future, the further the cooperation between the two carriers will be expanded so as to enable passengers to travel with even shorter connection times and more comfortable travel opportunities,” he said.

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