Jehangir Siddiqui Air (JS Air) has entered into a joint venture with Airblue to operate a commuter service on socio-economic routes in the country.
In this regard, Airblue is to start operation of Karachi-Gwadar-Karachi sector from June l7.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chairman JS Air, Air Commodore Munawar Alam Siddiqui (Retd) said it is a very important day in the history of aviation in Pakistan as such a joint venture has never taken place between any two air operators in the country. The first socio-economic route that the JS Air and Airblue will operate is the Gwadar-Karachi route, he said, adding that the volume of flights would soon be increased with addition of several other short haul destinations.
The two operators share a joint vision of connecting Gwadar with bigger cities. JS Air was recently launched as a charter aircraft company by Jahangir Siddiqui Group, which is one of country's most diversified and progressive financial services groups.
JS Air is a regional air charter business set up to serve relatively low passenger-volume routes for commercial airlines and providing executive charter services to the oil and gas industry and other leading businesses.
Airblue commenced its operations in 2004 and currently operates a fleet of five Airbuses including A-320 and A-32l aircrafts.
Airblue, the fastest-growing domestic airline, offers business and economy class seats and operates 30 flights daily from Karachi to Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar and Faisalabad.
In 2005, Airblue commenced short-haul international operations to Dubai and is finalising plans to operate additional long-haul routes.
Airblue recently placed a $790 million order with Airbus to purchase 10 additional aircraft with deliveries commencing in 2008.
Initially, there would be six flights a week operated by JS Air beech-craft. One month after the commencement of Gwadar sector operation, Airblue is planning to introduce a second frequency on the Gwadar route to operate in the afternoon.