Austrian Airlines drop plans to fly to Karachi

Abbas Ali · Post by **Abbas Ali** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 5:20 am

The cuts turned out to be insufficient: Austrian now plans to pull out of Shanghai, Katmandu, Phuket, Mauritius, Male and Colombo early next year and drop plans to fly to Chennai/India and Karachi/Pakistan.

Full News Link: AVIATION WEEK

Benaam · Post by **Benaam** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:11 am

That's a shame. The introduction of flights by Austrian would have given a boost to Karachi and would have sent a positive message to other European Majors. However we mustnt look at this in vain as the decision isn't due to factors such as security concerns etc. but rather because of a change in strategic direction at Austrian.

Let's just hope carriers like Lufthansa, KLM, or Air France step up and fill the void.

CoyBoy · Post by **CoyBoy** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 10:03 am

I feel KLM could do twice weekly 74E(Combi) nonstop to KHI or LHE.

Amaad Lone · Post by **Amaad Lone** » Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:07 am

No airline can compete with Emirates which offers 28 weekly flights out of Karachi.

The choice given by Emirates has killed any incentive to other airlines, including PIA.

PIA almost totally relies on Lahore and Islamabad for its European British and North American flights.