PIA suspends 17 international flights

[Abbas Ali]

By Shahid Hussain

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspended 17 international flights including 15 flights to Europe besides cancellation of 7 domestic flights in a week. Following restrictions imposed on PIA by the European Union, the airline rescheduled its flight plan for next three week till March 24, 2007. According to the new schedule, PIA suspended a domestic flight and re-adjusted the passengers on the other flights however the passengers are still confused who had bookings on these flights. PIA also changes the timings and announced some additional flights in it revised schedule.

As European Union allowed PIA to operate only through Boeing 777 and blacklisted Boeing 747 and Airbus A310 due to safety concerns, the airlines cancelled some of its domestic and international flights and adjusted all seven Boeing 777s for Europe. The airlines adjusted Boeing 747 and Airbus A310 for other destinations.

PIA also accommodated the passengers of London, Manchester and Rome on other services. As per changes for Wednesday, the suspended flights of PIA are PK-791/792 (Islamabad-Birmingham-Islamabad) while suspended and cancelled domestic flights are PK-365 (Islamabad- Karachi), PK-364 (Karachi-Islamabad) and PK-316 (Karachi-Lahore). International flight PK-723/724 (Islamabad-Karachi-Manchester-New York-Manchester-Islamabad-Karachi) was suspended which was scheduled for Thursday while domestic flight PK-365 (Islamabad-Karachi) was cancelled.

The suspended international flights for Friday are PK-701/702 (Islamabad-Manchester-Islamabad), PK-715/716 (Islamabad-Manchester-New York-Manchester-Islamabad-Karachi), PK-747/748 (Lahore-Milan-Athens-Lahore), PK-733/734 (Islamabad-Paris-Islamabad) and PK-763/764 (Lahore-Amsterdam-Frankfurt-Lahore).

Two domestic flights PK-324 (Karachi-Quetta-Islamabad), PK-364 (Karachi-Islamabad) were also cancelled. PIA cancelled five international flights for Saturday including PK-773/774 (Islamabad-Karachi-London-Karachi-Islamabad), PK-777/778 (Lahore-Glasgow-Lahore), PK-791/792 (Islamabad-Birmingham-Islamabad), PK-701/702 (Islamabad-Manchester-Islamabad), PK-757/758 (Lahore-London-Lahore) and PK-795/796 (Islamabad-Karachi-Manchester-Chicago-Manchester-Lahore-Karachi). Sunday’s flight PK-737/738 (Lahore-Paris-Rome-Lahore-Karachi) was suspended while PK-365 (Islamabad-Karachi) was suspended. Similarly, flight PK-707/708 (Islamabad-Milan-Athens-Islamabad) was also cancelled.

For Tuesday, two international flights were suspended including PK-773/774 (Islamabad-Karachi-London-Karachi-Islamabad) and PK-793/794 (Karachi-Lahore-Manchester-Chicago-Manchester-Islamabad-Karachi). Flight PK-317 (Lahore-Karachi) was cancelled.

Source: The News

[Abbas Ali]

PIA slashes its flights to Europe by nearly 50 percent

KARACHI: PIA announced on Tuesday that it had slashed its flights to Europe by nearly 50 per cent after the European Union barred most of its planes due to safety concerns. PIA said the airline had cut the number of weekly flights to Europe and the United States from 42 to 24, effective immediately, as a result of the ban.

Services to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Milan and Chicago have been halted altogether. Flights to destinations, including Manchester, New York, Istanbul and Paris will continue, but with reduced frequency.

Source: The News

[FMC]

What is the latest on the cancellations front? Has PIA announced its summer schedule?

[Gulistan]

How will the canx LHR flights affect PIA's slots.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/ukfs_news/hi/ ... 441103.stm