PIA Chief Pilot Captain Abdullah Baig, who was in command of the flight, was profusely garlanded when he stepped down the Boeing with PIA Managing Director Air Commodore Nur Khan. Capt Baig told newsmen that the record was broken as a result of coordinated efforts of all members of the crew aboard the plane. It was “the finest team” ever flown by me on any route, he said.

The $6m turbofan jet aircraft broke the London-Karachi point-to-point official record by covering the distance in six hours 45 minutes and 33 seconds, at an average speed of 583.3 statute miles per hour.

Aboard the plane, among others, were Pakistani and foreign journalists. The Royal Aero Club observer aboard the plane described the fight as “jolly good business”. The plane clipped two hours, nine minutes off the 1953 recoded of eight hours, 52 minutes and 28.5 seconds set by a British Canberra bomber.

The plane began its journey from London after a holdup due to snow and bad weather of more than 36 hours. The take-off from London was smooth despite the bad condition of the runway. PIA will put the aircraft on the Karachi-Dacca run, cutting the time by half. — Agencies

Guddu on track

LAHORE: The Guddu Barrage, an important colonisation project, will start functioning from April next, brining under irrigation in the first phase an area of 27 lakh acres of Sukkur and Jacobabad districts and a small portion of Shahdadkot Taluka of Larkana district.

Of this area, about 16 lakh acres is proprietary land and 11 lakh acres is state-owned. The cultivable state land is about 8.38 lakh acres. After making an allowance for new roads and canals, nearly 6.5 lakh acres will be available for various categories.