PIA granted licence for two more stations in China

National flag carrier enabled to start scheduling passenger flights to and from Guangzhou, Xian

BEIJING:

China has granted Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) licence to launch services to two more destinations — the northwestern port city of Guangzhou and the ancient imperial capital of Xi’an — in addition to Beijing.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) granted the operating licences to the national flag carrier for Guangzhou and Xian Stations, thereby enabling it to start scheduled passenger flights to the two cities, PIA Country Manager Qadir Bux Sangi said on Sunday.

Previously, PIA had an operating licence only for the Beijing station. Now, with the provision of licences, the airline holds an operating licence for Beijing, Guangzhou and Xian Stations, he added.

He informed that as per the current standard operating procedure of CAAC, international carriers can operate one weekly flight for China. PIA is operating PK854-855 ISB-XIY-PEK-ISB by using Xian's first entry point for Beijing as per CDC approval of the Xian government.

"After the change in the current standard operating procedure of CAAC, we have an option to start our scheduled flights for Guangzhou and Xian also," he added.

Responding to a question, he said the national flag carrier has also applied for the acquisition of an operating licence for Chengdu station, which is under consideration and hopefully, PIA will get its approval next month.

Read: PIA yet to recover from fake licences fiasco: CEO

Regarding cargo flights, he said that PIA has got approval from the Chinese authorities to operate chartered cargo flights for Kunming and Shenzhen while approval for Kashgar (Xinjiang) is under process.

He expressed confidence that the chartered cargo flights to different Chinese cities would help further enhance trade and economic activities between Pakistan and China.

Speaking about the resumption of PIA's weekly Islamabad-Xian-Beijing-Islamabad passenger flights, currently suspended due to the Covid-19 situation, he said that the local government authorities in Xian have been requested permission to resume the flights to Xian as per the previous schedule.

"We are waiting for the formal approval for resumption of flights so that we can facilitate the travellers from both countries," he added.