PIA begins direct flights to Baku

National flag carrier also launches special cargo chartered flights from Islamabad to Kashgar

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) started its flight operations for Baku with two flights from Karachi and Lahore carried 340 passengers for the Azerbaijan’s capital, besides launching the special cargo chartered flights from Islamabad to the Chinese city of Kashgar on Wednesday.

The national flag carrier had launched the flights for Azerbaijan’s under the prime minister’s vision of promoting tourism and strengthening friendly relations with Central Asian Republic (CAR).

To commemorate the beginning of flight operations, cakes were cut, and flowers and gifts were distributed among the passengers at Lahore and Karachi airports. At Baku airport, Azerbaijani minister of transport, heads of civil aviation, airport president and Pakistan’s ambassador welcomed the passenger of the maiden flight.

A grand ceremony was held at the airport and PIA was praised by the local authorities. Speaking on the occasion, PIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik said that Baku was an important tourist destination and the PIA had launched these flights to facilitate the tourists.

Pakistan’s Ambassador Bilal Hayee said that Pakistan and Azerbaijan were linked by mutual love and brotherhood and the launch of direct flights would further strengthen bilateral ties.

Moreover, in order to facilitating business activities between Pakistan and China, the PIA launched special cargo chartered flights from Islamabad to Kashgar on Wednesday.

According to a spokesperson of the national-flag carrier, these flights will make it easier for exporters to ship their products and will generate additional revenue for the state airline. After the beginning of operations on Wednesday, PIA became the first Pakistani airline to operate direct flights to Kashgar.

The airline is expected to have 13 cargo flights by the end of this month. It is worth mentioning here that Chinese authorities recently permitted the Pakistani national flag-carrier to operate flights to Kunming, Shenzhen and Kashgar.

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP)