PIA signs cargo charter with Oriental Sky Aviation Ltd

Islamabad (Dec 02, 2020): Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Oriental Sky Aviation Ltd signed a landmark cargo charter agreement here on Wednesday paving the way for direct and daily dedicated cargo flights between Pakistan and China.

The instrument of agreement was signed between PIA’s General Manager Charters and Managing Director (MD) Oriental Sky Aviation Mr. Rush Wang at Pakistan International Airlines offices. Chief executive officer (CEO) PIA Air Marshal Arshad Malik and Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) PIA Mr. Ali Tahir Qasim were also present at the signing.

As per the agreement, the national carrier will operate 7 weekly flights to Urumqi (China), with four flights a week originating from Islamabad and three flights from Lahore. It will be one of its kind operations as PIA has never operated daily cargo flights on this sector.

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PIA will be using its Airbus A320s for the said operations.

On contact, PIA Spokesperson, Abdullah Khan said that during COVID -19, airlines all across the globe has seen unprecedented surge in demand for air cargo and many airlines across the world are converting their passenger planes to cargo freighters, to take advantage of this situation.

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PIA is also aggressively pursuing this path and we are evaluating and on look out for opportunities to operate dedicated cargo flights to a number of sectors, specifically on China and Central Asian routes. The national flag carrier is already operating passenger and cargo charters to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan and Xi’an in China for different customers.

Speaking on the small and modest ceremony, CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik appreciated his Commercial Team in their initiatives to augment the existing revenue sources and thanked MD of Oriental Sky Aviation for his patronage of PIA.

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He said that with a daily connection, the trade and commerce between the two countries post COVID scenario will be greatly facilitated and will help in normalcy after perhaps the most devastating year for commercial aviation worldwide.

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