Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has started flights on Quetta-Kandahar route and first plane with 198 passengers on board flew on Tuesday. The inauguration ceremony was held at Quetta International Airport. Managing Director (MD) PIA, Captain Muhammad Junaid (Retd), Afghan Consul General Ghulam Muhammad Bahadar and high officials of the airline attended the ceremony.
Speaking on the occasion, MD PIA said two flights during a week would carry passengers for Quetta to Kandahar and it was hoped that the route would benefit both countries. He said that initiation of Quetta-Kandahar flights would lessen the miseries of passengers travelling between two countries. The MD PIA said that PIA is going to introduce more international routes including Chicago and Barcelona during 2013 and five new planes would be included in the national airline fleet.
Junaid said that a business plan of the corporation is being firmed up with emphasis on facilitating the passengers so that business can be attracted. The business plan being worked out is being prepared with the objective of attaining a break even by 2013, he added. The present share of PIA in the international passenger business generating from Pakistan is 32 percent while PIA has a share of 71 percent in the domestic market, said the PIA MD.
It should be mentioned that this was the first time that a new destination has been initiated after a very long time in the history of airlines. Earlier, during a briefing to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on measures taken by the new management of PIA to improve the operations of the airline, he had directed the authorities to bring about a turn around in the PIA with a new passenger friendly face. The prime minister had also ordered that all the grey areas must be addressed and loopholes plugged and economic viability of PIA ensured.
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