Feb 16, 2022: According to a report by The News, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced plans to launch two weekly flights to Australia, reducing travel time to and from the country by almost a third.

PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said it would be the first time that a Pakistani carrier would conduct direct flights to Australia. He said that PIA has conducted a feasibility study which has concluded that it will be beneficial for the airline. PIA first plans to operate two weekly flights from Karachi and Lahore to Sydney. Islamabad may later join the schedule.

Flights may begin in late March or early April, depending on the national carrier, if all goes well. However, the airline has not yet received permission from the Australian Aviation Authority.

Nadeem Sharif, Chairman of the Travel Agents Association of Pakistan (TAAP) commented on the potential benefits if the plan goes through, “Every airline must touch their hub before flying on to their destination, there may be eight-hour layovers or even overnight stays, which adds to the travel time.”

Citing the example of middle eatern airline with hubs in Doha or Dubai, he made the comments based on the inconvenience passengers face because there are no direct flights between Pakistan and Australia, passengers must travel for 34 to 35 hours with stopovers, which adds to their travel time. A direct flight would shorten a traveler’s duration to 12:30 hours and 13 hours, if one is going to Australia or coming to Pakistan respectively.

PIA has worked on its plans and completed its internal work. Nevertheless, it will be up to the Australian aviation authorities to decide whether or not the slots will be allowed. IATA Consultancy, an international aviation agency, has recently come up with a business plan for PIA, which, if adopted would see the loss-making state-owned airline break even by 2025 and profit by 3.4 percent the following year.

Profits will increase by 3.4%. The Comprehensive Business Plan covers the period from 2022 to 2026. With the implementation of this plan, PIA’s assets will increase from the current 1.196 billion to 2.183 billion by 2026.

Experts believe that the losses due to the pandemic have increased significantly in the financial year 2021 and more importantly, the series of incidents following the fake pilot license scandal, in which Pakistani pilots flying to the U.S and Europe were found to have fake licenses.

PIA’s fleet will increase from the current 29 to 49 by 2026, including 16 wide-body, 27 narrow-body and 6 turbo propeller aircraft. Shares of PIA rose 1.24% to Rs 4.09 on Tuesday.

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