LAHORE: Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) inaugural direct flight from Lahore to Sydney was due to take off on April 22, but the Australian home minister on Thursday directed the national flag carrier to postpone it.
While the aircraft got the clearance of the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority, their home minister opted to evaluate the security situation at the Lahore and Karachi airports before the initiation of direct air transit between the two nations.
State airline’s spokeswoman acknowledged that it had postponed the first two flights till the review gets concluded. They also acknowledged that the decision was decided in the light of Pakistan’s security situation and the airport system.
The representative further confirmed that their government and the Pakistani embassy are in touch with the Australian authorities, and are offering them full assistance.
They stated that the passengers for the first two flights are being alerted of the delay through their phone centre.
They further claimed that while this setback was “unfortunate”, it will contribute to the state airline’s aim for sustainable long-term flying operations.
It is worth emphasising here that in an attempt to boost Pakistan’s air travel, the national flag carrier had planned to establish direct flights to Australia. Moreover, it secured interline tickets with Virgin Australia Airlines to allow travellers to fly to eight other places in Australia besides Sydney.
The direct flights were slated to begin after significant demand for them since they lowered the journey duration from 35 hours to 12.5 hours.
Works at The Truth International Magazine. My area of interest includes international relations, peace & conflict studies, qualitative & quantitative research in social sciences, and world politics. Reach@ aimen.bukhari@tti.org.pk
