Still grounded: Sialkot ready to take to the skies

SIALKOT:

Delays in the issuance of an ‘Open Sky Policy’ (OSP) notification by the federal government has been listed as the sole stumbling block in the launch of direct international passenger and cargo flights by multi-national airlines from Sialkot International Airport.

Sialkot International Airport Limited (SIAL) chairman Syed Mukhtar Hussain Bukhari said that international-standard aviation facilities were being provided to Sialkot passengers at the international airport. “Several multi-national airlines are keen to start direct international passenger and cargo flights from Sialkot airport to different foreign destinations as soon as possible,” he said. Bukhari said that the early issuance of an Open Sky Policy for Sialkot international airport by the federal government would also pave the way for foreign investment in Sialkot. The meeting was also told that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had announced its intention to start its direct international passenger flights to London and Barcelona from Sialkot International Airport soon. The PIA management was also considering direct international passenger flights for the Middle East.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 5^th,  2011.