PIA to resume direct flights to U.S. in April 2020

Pakistan’s national carrier, PIA, is readying to resume its direct flights to the United States from April 2020.

The airline has sought permission from the U.S. and worked out a plan to restore its flights to the land, now home to a large Pakistani diaspora.

Once considered among the best airlines, PIA shut down its direct fight operations to the U.S. due to financial losses.

But now, Chief Executive Officer of PIA Air Marshal Arshad Mahmood Malik says the monthly operational losses of the airlines have been cut down to Rs 1.5 billion from the staggering Rs. 3 billion losses.

“The reduction in operational losses became possible only due to day-night efforts of PIA team comprising those officers who have been working at PIA for the last many years,” he said.

 

Still, he told members of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), the airline needed to do a lot to deal with PIA’s liabilities as its earning are mostly consumed by debt servicing.

PIA had stopped flights to New York via Manchester in 2017.

The airline plans to increase its fleet from 31 to 45 by 2025 with the addition of three to four aircraft every year, instead of leasing them as done previously.

“We have developed a business plan for PIA, which the prime minister has approved. According to the plan, we are going to increase PIA’s fleet from the current 31 to 45 aircraft,” Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said recently.

On domestic routes, the Civil Aviation Authority plans to develop a price-checking system to counter excessive price hikes.