Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is set to start direct flights from Islamabad to Gwadar as the national carrier looks to gain air traffic emanating from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC),. PIA is currently looking to remove loss-making routes and add new and profitable destinations to its schedule. Currently, passengers have to take flights to Gawadar via Karachi and that too has weight restrictions and baggage left behind is a constant issue for passengers travelling to Gawadar.
PIA CEO Musharraf Rasool Cyan who has recently been appointed as the president of the airline told The Express Tribune in a recent interview “we would connect Islamabad and Gwadar by the end of this year (December 2018).
Apart from new flights to Gawadar, PIA is going to start flying to Dera Ghazi Khan from Islamabad and Lahore and vice-versa in 2018. Besides, it would increase the frequency of its flights to Multan, Zhob and Turbat.