PIA to resume Xian, Kuala Lumpur flights

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is all set to resume its weekly commercial passenger flights on Islamabad-Xian and Beijing-Islamabad routes from June 11 (Saturday).

The national flag carrier has been accorded permission by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to operate its commercial passenger flight for Xian Xianyang International Airport, official sources informed APP on Wednesday.

The PIA flight PK-854 will leave Islamabad for Xian on June 11 (Saturday) and reach its destination the same day. PIA flight PK-855 will return to Islamabad from Beijing Capital International Airport on June 12 (Sunday).

Last month, a meeting between Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi was held in Guangzhou, China, wherein the two countries agreed on the resumption of direct flights operated by the state airline as soon as possible.

The two leaders also agreed on increasing direct flights between the two countries

PIA suspended its flight operation between Pakistan and China in December last year after the closure of Xian airport following the Covid-19 pandemic prevention and control measures imposed by the Chinese authorities.

Separately, it emerged on Wednesday that the national flag carrier has decided to resume its flight operations to Kuala Lumpur.

The state airline will operate two weekly flights to the Malaysian capital. The flights from Lahore will resume on June 26.

Moreover, PIA has also stepped-up flight operations to Baku. It will now operate four weekly flights to the Azerbaijani capital – one from Islamabad, two from Lahore and one from Karachi, a spokesperson of the national airline said. 

With additional input from our correspondent