Emirates Airline has unveiled major expansion plans for Pakistan with the launch of additional flights to Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar. Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore and Benazir Bhutto International Airport in Islamabad will both be served by non-stop flights seven times a week from October 31, 2011 and November 2, 2011 respectively while Peshawar International Airport will be served by three weekly flights from November 5, 2011. The airline also serves Karachi, which was its first destination in Pakistan.
“The additional flights to Pakistan emphasise Emirates’ long-term commitment to the country,” said Majid Al Mualla, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations - West Asia & Indian Ocean, Emirates Airline. “Services from the four gateways will offer Pakistani travellers and businesses/exporters increased connectivity with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and onwards with the rest of the world through our global network.”
The launch of the additional services will create greater socio-economic opportunities for Pakistan and Dubai as increased passenger flow will help businesses flourish and were developed thanks, Emirates notes, to the strong support and efforts of the Government of Pakistan.
“The evolving market structure, improved accessibility, rise in remittances and rising consumer spending due to the expanding population are reshaping the aviation sector in Pakistan and Emirates is keen to continue to strengthen its presence in the country,” added Majid Al Mualla.
In the past year an estimated 2.2 million O&D passengers travelled between Pakistan and the UAE I the past year, with its destinations in the country also popular with transfer traffic from other parts of the world. Emirates Airlines id the third largest operator between the two countries with an 18.7 per cent share of the O&D traffic during this period. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) dominates with a 34.5 per cent share, followed by Air Blue with 22.6 per cent of the traffic. An estimated 229,000 O&D passengers flew between Dubai and Islamabad, 265,000 between Dubai and Lahore and 179,000 between Dubai and Pehawar.
The non-oil trade between Pakistan and Dubai crossed $2.5 billion in 2010 and has witnessed a steep increase in the past few years backed by higher demand for Pakistani products such as textiles, food items, rice, cement, etc. The new services of Emirates will provide Pakistani exporters with greater export capacity to the UAE and strengthen the country’s export potential via the airline’s global connections.
The services will be operated by a mix of Boeing 777 and Airbus A330-200 aircraft and will bring the airline’s weekly schedule to Pakistan to 45 flights. Emirates Airline faces competition from PIA, Air Blue and Shaheen Air International on all four of its routes to Pakistan, while low-cost sister company flydubai and Malaysia Airlines also offer service between Dubai and Karachi.
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