PIA resumes flights to sub-Saharan Africa

[basit_s]

PIA resumes flights to sub-Saharan Africa

NAIROBI (August 31 2005): National airline on Tuesday resumed service to sub-Saharan Africa after a seven-year suspension as an inaugural flight to Kenya touched down here amid efforts to spur commercial ties between the countries.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight 745 landed at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport just after 4:30 pm (1330 GMT) as part of moves officials hope will boost trade and tourism between the east African nation and the largest importer of its tea.

The Airbus A310 carrying 51 passengers - the maiden voyage of new twice-a-week PIA service from Karachi to Nairobi via Dubai - was the first Pakistani commercial jet to land in Kenya since May 1998, according to Adris Qadri, PIA's Kenya country manager.

PIA had suspended its flights then to sub-Saharan Africa for "operational" reasons, he said, adding that the resumption of the Kenya route was just the first of the airline's planned re-expansion into the region.

"We want to promote tourism and trade between Kenya and Pakistan," Qadri told AFP, explaining the rationale for restarting the route. "We want to explore the market opportunities."

Pakistan is the leading importer of Kenyan-grown tea, followed by Egypt, Britain, Afghanistan and Sudan, according to the Tea Board of Kenya.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005

[Abbas Ali]

The Airbus A310 carrying 51 passengers - the maiden voyage of new twice-a-week PIA service from Karachi to Nairobi via Dubai - was the first Pakistani commercial jet to land in Kenya since May 1998, according to Adris Qadri, PIA's Kenya country manager.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005

According to PIA spokeswoman Samina Pervez the inaugural flight to Kenya was carrying over 98 passengers.

PIA stopped flying sub-saharan destinations in 1992 as it was not "commercially viable" following the first Gulf War a year earlier, the spokeswoman said, but demand had since increased. PIA was now looking to extend its operations to other African destinations, including South Africa, she added.

"Nairobi is a good and profitable route and we also have a plan in hand to extend our flights to Johannesburg." she said.

Source: The News

[CoyBoy]

She may be referring To JNB, because NBO was suspened in 1998 or 99.