European Airlines in Pakistan
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European Airlines in Pakistan
I'm not sure if that has been discussed already but I am wondering what is the outlook as of right now on certain big European carriers coming back to Pakistan to operate from/to Lahore and Karachi. I know BA is the only one serving Pakistan, but are there chances of Lufthansa, KLM and Swiss to follow? It is disgruntling to fly to Pakistan from the US and having to stop in Dubai after somewhere in Europe. Lack of service to Pakistan from Europe is helping Emirates beyond belief I guess. I hope some of you can just shed light on the topic of who in the future will be serving Pakistan out of Europe.
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Mr. Engineer
I Think I have to disagree with you.
One of the good things with the United States is that they are solely based on economy. The moment they know they can make money on pakistani routes, they will start routes to pakistan. It's one of the things I like with the U.S: Money talks, Bullshit walks.
I Think I have to disagree with you.
One of the good things with the United States is that they are solely based on economy. The moment they know they can make money on pakistani routes, they will start routes to pakistan. It's one of the things I like with the U.S: Money talks, Bullshit walks.
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Most US carriers are downsizing dramatically due to their flirtation with bankruptcy. Just because of that I don't see them coming to Pakistan within the next 5 years. Lufthansa/SwissAir and KLM/AirFrance have been doing strong in Europe, so it is fairly surprising to see that they have no immediate plans to start again in Pakistan. All those airlines serve around 5 different cities in India. But I guess from an economical perspective, India is growing at a much higher rate than Pakistan is and so there is business need to travel to India than Pakistan. But British Airways has been doing well in Pakistan and I feel that in a year or so they will expand into Karachi or Lahore. Hopefully we can get to see Air Canada there as well.
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I was speaking to the ex UAE Shaheen Air country manager from 1993-97 and he had the following to say on this topic which made a lot of sense :
1. Why would any EU airline want to fly to PAK when DXB offers fuel for their planes at 75 cents per litre + lower airport landing-ground handling fees + a much better airport when Pakistan CAA charges US $ 1.15 per litre combined with much higher landing and ground handling fees.
2. It is cheaper for the EU airlines to interline with the Pakistani airlines or EK to send pax to Pakistan rather than have their own aircraft fly there.
3. Out of all the European airlines, he felt that Lufthansa, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic were the only ones who could make decent money from Pakistan. He said that there is no money to be made by KLM, Air France, Alitalia nor SAS if they ever returned.
4. LH would make money via cargo + also use its geographical advantage in EU to connect pax on its own flights or Star Alliance codeshared flights trans-atlantic or to any other EU city.
5. The highest yields he lastly said would be seen on BA followed by VS and then LH. But VS he felt would get more premium traffic out of KHI than BA because of them having a better reputation than BA in KHI in Upper Class + better pricing strategies.
1. Why would any EU airline want to fly to PAK when DXB offers fuel for their planes at 75 cents per litre + lower airport landing-ground handling fees + a much better airport when Pakistan CAA charges US $ 1.15 per litre combined with much higher landing and ground handling fees.
2. It is cheaper for the EU airlines to interline with the Pakistani airlines or EK to send pax to Pakistan rather than have their own aircraft fly there.
3. Out of all the European airlines, he felt that Lufthansa, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic were the only ones who could make decent money from Pakistan. He said that there is no money to be made by KLM, Air France, Alitalia nor SAS if they ever returned.
4. LH would make money via cargo + also use its geographical advantage in EU to connect pax on its own flights or Star Alliance codeshared flights trans-atlantic or to any other EU city.
5. The highest yields he lastly said would be seen on BA followed by VS and then LH. But VS he felt would get more premium traffic out of KHI than BA because of them having a better reputation than BA in KHI in Upper Class + better pricing strategies.
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Assalam-o Aleikum
Unfortunately in the western media Islamic countries especially Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are ( very unfairly ) portrayed as hostile, threatening places.The only western airlines I can realistically see introducing services to Pakistan in the short-term would be bmi British Midland ( who took over BA's routes to Saudi ), and perhaps Northwest, who despite currently operating under Chapter 11 re-structuring, have announced a focus on international rather than domestic routes.
Best Wishes to all, Mike.
Unfortunately in the western media Islamic countries especially Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are ( very unfairly ) portrayed as hostile, threatening places.The only western airlines I can realistically see introducing services to Pakistan in the short-term would be bmi British Midland ( who took over BA's routes to Saudi ), and perhaps Northwest, who despite currently operating under Chapter 11 re-structuring, have announced a focus on international rather than domestic routes.
Best Wishes to all, Mike.