BEIJING, March 11: Pakistan and China on Thursday signed a historic agreement to expand air services between the two countries. It would enable the Civil Aviation of China (CAAC) and the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) to increase their operation on Karachi-Islamabad, Beijing, Urumqi and Shanghai routes with immediate effect.

The agreement was signed by Yang Guoqing, Vice Minister China Civil Aviation and Major General Muhammad Ashraf Chaudhry, Additional Secretary Ministry of Defence, on behalf of their respective countries.

Under the agreement, PIA would be entitled to increase the maximum number of passenger and cargo flights to China, to 14 per week from the present four per week.

PIA has also been granted permission to operate flights to Shanghai in addition to the already approved destinations of Beijing and Urumqi. Similarly, the Chinese Airline would be able to fly to Lahore in addition to Islamabad and Karachi.

It was also decided that both the airlines would be entitled to book passengers on each other's flights on a reciprocal basis. The countries have agreed to start a bilateral code-sharing operation. This is the first time PIA has entered into a code-sharing agreement with any other foreign airline, said Ashraf Chaudhry.

Furthermore, it was also agreed that the two sides would be able to co-terminalize between any two points in each other's territory on a reciprocal basis. Now passengers may be picked up at the two airports on the same flight, in both countries, by their designated airlines.

Under the agreement, PIA would also be able to operate to Los Angeles in the west coast of United States through China, in addition to the already available route for Japan.

S. Kamran Hasan, Director Marketing PIA said the agreement signifies the greatest desire of the two countries to further consolidate and strengthen their bilateral economic and commercial relations based on the 40-year history of cooperation in the aviation field.

The agreement signing ceremony was attended by PIA senior official Syed Imran Jamalullah, Air Commodore Javed Ishaq Khan and Azam Ali Lashari, PIA's station manager in Beijing.

The Chinese Civil Aviation Minister termed the agreement as a historic one, furthering bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the aviation field. He said, it reflects their deep-rooted existing historical relations. -APP