PIA, private airlines jack up domestic fares

Huge demand and supply gap cited as main reason for hike in ticket prices

KARACHI:

The Pakistan International Airlines as well as private airlines have exorbitantly increased their domestic fares.

The tickets have become extremely expensive because of the upcoming Christmas, winter holidays and New Year’s eve.

According to sources, the main reason for the tickets becoming so expensive is the huge gap between demand and supply.

The prices of tickets abroad are also witnessing a massive increase.

The sources said the one-way fare of a PIA flight from Karachi to Islamabad has reached Rs36,000 and the return tickets have hit Rs71,000.

Similarly, the one-way fare of Air Blue from Karachi to Islamabad has jumped up to Rs35,000.

The one-way fare of Serene Air from Karachi to Islamabad has jacked up to Rs38,000 and the return tickets have gone up to Rs65,000.

Air Sial's one-way fare from Karachi to Islamabad is Rs45,000 and return tickets have gone up to Rs80,000.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has failed to balance the flight fares.

The passengers are very worried because of this situation.

However, fares are expected to drop significantly after Christmas and winter holidays.

 

Flight delays

 

The schedule of flights departing from the Jinnah Terminal in Karachi was affected for the second straight day because of the heavy fog in various cities of the country.

According to the sources, flights departing from Karachi airport to various cities of the country were rescheduled on Thursday morning because of heavy fog.

Air Sial’s flight PF-142 from Karachi to Lahore was rescheduled two hours late at 2:30 pm.

PIA flight PK-341 from Karachi to Faisalabad was delayed by an hour and a half.

Similarly, its flight PK-303 from Karachi to Lahore was late by nearly two hours.

The national carrier’s flight PK-505 from Karachi to Gwadar departed one hour late at 2 pm and PK-369 from Karachi to Islamabad left two hours late at 8 pm.

PIA’s flight PK-351 from Karachi to Peshawar was cancelled.

Airblue’s flight 201 from Karachi to Lahore was rescheduled at 12 pm and Serene Air’s flight ER-523 from Karachi to Lahore took off at 5 pm.

A day earlier, the PIA had announced the partial shifting of its international flight operations from Lahore to Islamabad airport because of low visibility at night caused by heavy fog and smog in the provincial capital of Punjab.

“All international flights scheduled to operate to/from Lahore between 10 pm and 11 am have been shifted to Islamabad from Wednesday night,” PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan said in a press statement.

He clarified that the arrangement of shifting the flight operations had been made temporarily to prevent then passengers from suffering from the inconvenience of a “prolonged wait”.

The spokesperson added that the flight-shifting arrangement would be reversed when the foggy conditions improved in Lahore.