AN ARTICLE by Mr. Farrukh Saleem, published in the Dawn on the 1st of July, has maligned the PIA for no reason and painted it as the butcher of aviation industry. How cruel of the PIA! That is what readers may say, unless they know the facts. The intent of this write-up is to dispel all such impressions.
Pakistan exports man-power. Our man-power— Pakistanis working and living abroad— are the precious commodity that any airline would seek. The carriers of city-states and rich but scarcely-populated emirates in the Gulf are the propagators of Open Skies for their own benefits. They do not have any indigenous traffic. They survive, rather prosper, by carrying Pakistanis, Indians, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans through their hubs.
The author has a notion that foreign carriers are helping our tourist and hotel industry. Has he ever cared to find out how many tourists has Singapore Airlines brought into Pakistan; how many Swedes or Singaporeans stayed in Pakistani hotels in a year; How many UAE citizens have ever visited Pakistan? We all know and so does the author that foreign airlines will not lure in tourists. They cannot bring in investment. They will only come for their own benefit to keep their airline buoyant by cashing in on our commodity—the Pakistani passengers. Look around. How many foreigners do you see in our hotels and how may Singaporeans and Emirates’ nationals travel to or through Pakistan? Foreign carriers will not develop our hotel industry.
The author cites examples of Dubai and Singapore forgetting that Pakistan’s situation is unique. The turmoil on borders, the unsafe situation within and the propaganda war has painted Pakistan as a state controlled by fundamentalists perpetuating terrorism across the borders and all over the world. Is such a situation conducive to international carriers, safety and business-wise, definitely not.
He is sarcastic about PIA’s diplomatic links with countries that do not operate into Pakistan. It is normal for countries to have bilateral agreements in the field of aviation and still have no air links. Perhaps, he does not know that bilaterals are signed between governments and not between the airlines. As far as flights are concerned, airlines listed in his article will operate if and when it is of commercial interest to them. Even those airlines that did operate, have gradually withdrawn. Airlines like KLM, Lufthansa, Alitalia and Air France stopped operating to Pakistan years ago for commercial reasons.
The author has been propagating open skies in his various articles. Does he not realize that it is the open sky that has forced these European airlines to withdraw from Pakistan? Unimaginable traffic rights granted to the Gulf carriers and private airlines of Pakistan have resulted in price war resulting in cheap transportation up to hubs in the Gulf, specially Dubai. Emirates is a key player in this business and transports passengers to Germany, France, Italy Holland via its hub in Dubai at a very low fares thus snatching the passenger market of these European carriers. The major European carriers, therefore, have withdrawn from Pakistan as they find it cheaper to take Pakistan originating traffic from Dubai at much lesser cost, courtesy of Pakistani private airlines and the Gulf carriers.
The author also mentions that British Airways has withdrawn from Pakistan and blames PIA for it. Does he not know that the British Airways operated till 11th September and it is the security risk that keeps it away?
Not at least the hijack threat to Singapore Airlines. If he saw the letter in MOD, why does he not mention, who the originator was? He is aware of the facts but would rather keep the readers confused. The Singapore Airlines stopped operation to Pakistan, immediately after the explosion outside Sheraton. Was PIA behind it? Did PIA place the explosives to push out Singapore Airlines?
The writer is sold out on the policies adopted by the Emirate of Dubai. Pakistan cannot be compared with Dubai, Singapore, Switzerland and other small states which have small population base and that survive on tourism and trade. Their economy depends on movement of other countries’ passengers through their country. Their airlines are in fact a tool in promoting and supporting their economy. They can welcome unlimited operation by airline of any country as their economy is thus strengthened but Pakistan whose airlines contributes to its economy by way of foreign exchange earnings cannot adopt such policies.
The author, however, is right about one thing. “The world won’t come to us”. May I ask if the world is not coming to us, why would the airlines come to us unless they can make some profit? The profit is carriage of ethnic Pakistanis that they need as bloodline for their airline’s survival.
AN ARTICLE by Mr. Farrukh Saleem, published in the Dawn on the 1st of July, has maligned the PIA for no reason and painted it as the butcher of aviation industry. How cruel of the PIA! That is what readers may say, unless they know the facts. The intent of this write-up is to dispel all such impressions.
