RAWALPINDI: By 1978-79 the PIA will almost double its size over the 1974-75 level, Air Marshal (retd) M. Nur Khan told a press conference here today [Sept 23]. The induction of additional capacity … will be necessitated to meet heavy traffic projected during next three years. He explained that with current PIA fleet a saturation point has already been reached so much so that PIA is turning away traffic and losing revenue as well as causing inconvenience to public. … [He] told a correspondent that PIA incurred annual loss of rupees two crore in services operated to lesser developed areas including Baluchistan and northern regions. Fares on these services … are being heavily subsidised … which … [PIA] would continue to bear as long as it could in national cause.

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from the UN,] the Soviet Union today [Sept 23] again brought up its proposal for a system of collective security in Asia. Addressing the UN General Assembly, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko said the radical change in the situation in Indo-China created more favourable requisites for establishing peaceful cooperation in Asia as a whole.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2025