Greater flight connectivity between India and Pakistan

NEW DELHI — Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has decided to add more flights to its already existing Delhi-Lahore sector. The airline is keen to introduce Delhi-Islamabad flights on a general basis soon; besides, adding Chennai to its route map for the first time.
This decision is based on the resolution taken by South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (Saarc) countries during the 14th Saarc Summit in New Delhi last year. It called for connecting all the capitals of the Saarc member countries by air.
In view of this, there were talks of PIA adding a flight to Delhi from Islamabad. Besides, adding more flights to India on non-existent sectors like Chennai. New Delhi too would add more number of flight connectivity to major Pakistan cities.
Top officials told Khaleej Times yesterday that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s proposal connecting all Saarc capitals with direct flights is indicative of India’s government-owned carrier Indian (the erstwhile Indian Airlines) introducing new flights on its Delhi-Islamabad route.
The Saarc decision on this was taken to not only boost intra-regional trade and investments, but also promote cultural exchanges and make the travel easy within the subcontinent. Though PIA officially refused to talk on the same, sources said Pakistan is keen to spruce up air connectivity with India, including the opening a new sector of Islamabad-Chennai.
PIA presently operates seven weekly flights from Delhi to Karachi and Lahore (three flights to Karachi and four to Lahore). The carrier also operates five flights a week to Karachi via Mumbai.
According to industry figures, around 80 to 90 per cent of the traffic flying out of India through PIA is onwards traffic, bound for Middle East or Far East. The remaining 10 per cent traffic is to Pakistan. In view of the ongoing bonhomie between India and Pakistan, and Track II diplomacy on offer, the air traffic is likely to increase.
However, officials said the “traffic PIA carry from India is the ‘labour traffic’ flying to the Middle East or Far East destinations. PIA connects them from Pakistan to their final destination.” On account of poor load factor on their flights, the airline last year in July replaced the bigger aircraft with the smaller ones on their Indian routes.
It is said people in India and Pakistan prefer travelling by train on either sides because of the exorbiatant air fares to each other’s country. Officials said that this year a memorandum of understanding was signed between the two countries on the capacity entitlements for the designated airlines of each country.
The entitlement has been increased from 12 flights per week to 28 flights per week. “Plus Islamabad and Chennai have been granted as additional points of call for the designated airlines of India and Pakistan respectively,” officials said.