ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines has decided to launch two weekly direct flights to Sydney, Australia, for the first time.
For PIA, this international destinations seems to be profitable and sustainable, PIA officials said.
Abdullah Hafeez, a spokesperson of the national airline said that PIA has conducted a feasibility study, which demonstrates this business expansion was benefits. He said PIA plans to operate two weekly flights from Karachi and Lahore to Sydney, but at a later stage, number of flights will be increased to more Australian cities.
He said that from April 2022, PIA could commence its commercial operations to Australian. He pointed out that PIA’s direct flights would reduce travel duration to 12:30 hours and 13 hours against current 34 hours air journey, if a passenger is going to Australia or coming to Pakistan respectively. At present, indirect flights between Pakistan and Australia are taking 34 to 35 hours travel time with stopovers.
PIA spokesman said IATA Consultancy has recently offered a business plan for PIA that would eliminate losses of the national airline by 2025. The comprehensive business plan covers the period from 2022 to 2026.
The enforcement of the plan would boost assets of PIA from the current $1.19 billion to $2.183 billion by 2026, he added.
