Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been granted approval by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) to operate direct weekly passenger flights on the Islamabad-Xian-Islamabad route from next month.
According to official sources in this country every Tuesday, PK-856 will leave for Xian from the Islamabad International Airport, and PK-857 will make the reverse trip the same day, according to official sources in this country.
The third direct flight between Pakistan and China operated by the national flag carrier will travel from Islamabad to Xian.
On Sunday and Wednesday, respectively, PIA was already running weekly passenger flights on the Islamabad-Beijing-Islamabad and Islamabad-Chengdu-Islamabad routes.
The airline’s local office has notified the corporate office of the approval and is making the required preparations for the start of a trouble-free flying operation.
It’s important to note that the CAAC gave PIA permission to resume direct flights between Islamabad and Beijing as of October 30. China views Pakistan as an all-weather strategic cooperating partner.
PIA is among the few international airlines allowed to operate three direct flights a week.
The start of PIA’s direct passenger service between the two nations has been warmly hailed by Pakistani politicians, businesspeople, and students.
According to them, Chinese workers on various CPEC-funded projects in Pakistan would be made more comfortable by direct flights operated by national flag carriers between various cities in China and Pakistan.