Pakistan International Airline (PIA) has decided to restart its Air Safari service. The national flag carrier said this in a press release on Monday. All the necessary preparations have been made in this regard, it said, furthermore adding that the inaugural flight will fly from Islamabad to Skardu on 12th June 2021.
PIA has named this service ‘Sadpara Air Safari,’ after the famous mountaineer, Ali Sadpara, who lost his life along with two international mountaineers during their quest to conquer K2 in winter.
The national airline claimed that the Safari flight would work every Saturday from the New Islamabad Airport and go over snow-capped peaks in the country’s north including K2 and Nanga Parbat.
Pakistan International Airlines had first started this service in 2018. However, it was wrapped soon after the launch due to operational challenges.
Now that the country’s tourism is getting back on track with improved security and fewer COVID-related restrictions, the national airline plans to pick on this opportunity.
Earlier, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had issued a Tourism Promotion and Regional Integration (TPRI) license to a new airline, North Air.
The airline will operate flights to Gilgit, Skardu, Chitral, and Gwadar. Moreover, PIA itself is operating 17 weekly flights to Gilgit from all over Pakistan.
