ISLAMABAD: China has granted Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) licence to launch services to two more destinations — the northwestern port city of Guangzhou and the ancient imperial capital of Xi’an — in addition to Beijing.
Previously, the airline had the operating licence only for Beijing, but the provision of the licences by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) enabled it to conduct operations between Pakistan and the two cities, Qadir Bux Sangi, the airline’s PIA country manager in China, said.
He said that as per the current standard operating procedure of CAAC, international carriers can operate one weekly flight for China. “PIA is operating PK854-855 ISB-XIY-PEK-ISB by using Xi’an’s first entry point for Beijing as per CDC approval of the Xian government,” he said.
“After the change in the current standard operating procedure of CAAC, we have an option to start our scheduled flights for Guangzhou and Xi’an also,” Sangi added.
Responding to a question, he said the national flag carrier has also applied for the acquisition of an operating licence for Chengdu, one of the most important economic and cultural centres in China, which is under consideration and PIA will get the approval in April.
Regarding cargo flights, Sangi said PIA has got approval from the Chinese authorities to operate chartered cargo flights for Kunming and Shenzhen while approval for Xinjiang is under process.
He expressed the confidence that the chartered cargo flights to different Chinese cities would help further enhance trade and economic activities between Pakistan and China.
About the resumption of PIA’s weekly Islamabad-Xian-Beijing-Islamabad passenger flights which are currently suspended due to the Covid-19 crisis, Sangi said the local authorities in Xi’an have been requested permission to resume the flights as per the previous schedule.
“We are waiting for the formal approval for resumption of flights so that we can facilitate the travellers from both countries,” he added.
