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Low-cost Flydubai to start Pakistan flights from 21st
Friday, June 11, 2010By Saad Hasan
KARACHI: A low-cost airline of Dubai will start flights to Pakistan from June 21 the peak of summer season when the number of passengers heading to Middle East usually surges, officials told The News.
Flydubai, a subsidiary of Emirates for cheap-fare seekers, has been allowed to operate daily flight seven days a week, a senior Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) official said.
Karachi is open skies for Dubai. So there is no bar on Emirates and other Dubai airlines to fly to the city, said Khawar Ghayas, an official of the CAAs Air Transport directorate. But they have not been allowed access to the north (Lahore and Islamabad).
Entry of another airline will prove to be a tough competition for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and other two private carriers, Shaheen Air and Airblue, industry officials said.
Flydubai was supposed to launch the flight from March, but faced stiff resistance from the local airlines and aviation authorities. However, they had to give in after interference from the highest level, they said.
The decision is particularly painful for PIAs senior management, which is facing the wrath of the parliamentarians over its financial losses, but had been denied more flights to Dubai.
It has been more than six months since PIA sought permission from Dubai to start flights from Sialkot and we havent been given permission, a senior airline official said.
They are openly disregarding the air services agreement, but the whole nation seems to be helpless.
Under the agreement, Pakistani airlines can operate to Dubai from any destination in the country.
Similarly, Emirates can operate to Karachi unlimited number of flights.
This is very bad for PIAs business. Everyone says that the airline needs internal reforms, while they are conveniently ignoring growing penetration of the Gulf-based carriers, which are eating our revenues, the official said.
According to a recent PIA survey, out of the total international traffic from Pakistan, 81 per cent is going through the Gulf carriers. About 77 per cent of these passengers are destined for Europe and the United States.
PIA posted a 23 per cent surge in its financial losses to Rs2.59 billion during the first quarter of the current year against Rs2.04 billion incurred during the corresponding period last year.
Faced with accumulated losses of over Rs70 billion, political interference in managerial affairs and most of the airplanes of old make, PIA is often forced to take stopgap measures like making out of schedule stops.
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