PIA all set to start flights from Sialkot airport

[Naveed Yaseen]

SIALKOT: National flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has finalised all arrangements for commencing twice-weekly international flights from the Sialkot International Airport.

PIA’s District Sales Manager Khalid Hameed, talking to APP here on Thursday, said that PK-253 will take off for Abu Dhabi at 11.30 am from the Sialkot airport on October 26, and will return at 7.10 pm.

Direct flight on the Sialkot-Muscat section will commence on October 29, he said, adding that Abu Dhabi and Muscat-bound flights are fully booked which is a healthy omen for the national carrier as well as trade and commerce.

A large number of overseas Pakistanis and members of the business community from Gujranwala, Gujarat, Narowal, Jehlum and other adjoining areas as well as Mirpur, Azad Kashmir will benefit from the new service, he added. PIA is already operating flights on Sialkot-Kuwait and Sialkot-Karachi routes.

Meanwhile, airport sources here disclosed that Qatar Airways will also operate a cargo flight from here on October 27. Air traffic of the region is estimated at 446,000 passengers per year, which is expected to increase by 6 per cent per annum, while the current air cargo is around 24,000 tonnes per year, expected to increase to 53,000 tonnes by the year 2014.

Sialkot International Airport handled almost 14,000 tonnes of cargo in the first year of its operation.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=142918