QUETTA/RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Inter­national Airlines (PIA) began its international flight operations from Quetta and Sialkot on Monday.

The first Sialkot-Dubai flight, with 165 passengers on board, took off from the Sialkot International Airport on Sunday night.

A PIA spokesman said that a simple ceremony was held at the Sialkot International Airport for the PK179. The national flag carrier is operating twice a week flights from Sialkot to Dubai.

On the other hand, the Quetta-Dubai flight — PK232 — took off from Karachi due to heavy rains and snowfall in Quetta.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri said that the federal government under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan was paying special attention to the development of the province, which was ignored by the past governments.

Suri says special attention paid to Balochistan development

The flight operation from Quetta to Dubai was a longstanding demand of the people, he said, adding that the first right over the resources of Balochistan was of the people of the province.

Mr Suri stressed that the federation had no intention of usurping the rights of anyone, including Balochistan. “Resources belong to Balochistan and it is the right of the people of the province to be benefited first,” he said, adding that developing the province was the top priority of the incumbent government.

On the Reko Diq gold and copper mine, he said an in-camera briefing of Balochistan Assembly members on the mine was a good step by the provincial government. PIA Balochistan General Manager Bilal Afzal and other company officials and busi­ness leaders attended the inaugural ceremony.

Sialkot-Dubai flight

The PIA inaugural ceremony in Sialkot was attended by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar, Punjab’s Minister of Special Education Chaudhry Ikhlaq and Sialkot International Airport chairman Khawaja Masood.

Passengers were welcomed and seen off by guests along with PIA’s General Manager of Passenger Sales, Mohammad Shafique; Deputy GM of Passenger Sales, Ahmed Faraz, and other airline officials. A cake-cutting ceremony was also held at the airport and passengers were presented with flowers, the PIA spokesman said.

Published in Dawn, January 4th, 2022