ISLAMABAD, May 16: Pakistan International Airlines is launching a new twice-weekly flight to Chicago, USA from Saturday.

The flight originating from Islamabad, will touch Karachi and Birmingham and reach Chicago after 19 hours.

PIA officials said the first flight had been booked, which reflected that the initiative taken for the new route would yield positive results.

The national flag-carrier currently operates three flights a week to New York, however, PIA sources said the number was soon likely to be increased to five.

The decision to launch the flight for Chicago was taken in view of the large number of Pakistani community in the USA. PIA will operate the flights on Saturday and Wednesday.

Following the 9/11, vast majority of Pakistanis opted to fly through the PIA as they did not feel at ease with the foreign airliners.

PIA remained one of the few airlines to have sustained the global down turn in the airline industry with the expatriate community coming in to its rescue.

The PIA officials termed the expansion of its air-routes as a sign of its recovery and referred to the recent addition of a new route to Mashad, Iran.—APP