Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has launched the largest flight operation to the northern areas as global travel restrictions, stemming from Covid-19, forced the affluent Pakistanis to explore local tourist sites.The first direct flight for Skardu took off on Sunday with 166 passengers from Multan International Airport.
An inaugural ceremony was held at Multan airport just before the departure of first flight to Skardu. A female Tik Tokker “ Alishba Anjumwas among the passengers. Two minor passengers cut the cake of first flight along with ASF Chief Col.Riaz Ahmed, PIA's station Manager Muhammad Asif Suhail, Ghazanfar Ali and Muhammad Aslam , Civil Aviation's Ghazanfar Raza, M.Qayyam Khalid, etc.
M.Asif Suhail of PIA said that the national flag carrier has launched special flights for the tourists visiting the country’s northern areas after Eid days,”
Although bad weather over the past few days affected the flight schedule for the north, still the airline managed to ramp up the number of flights to the highest-ever level, he said.He pointed out that the national flag carrier had operated six flights to Skardu in a day
Elaborating, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan said that two planes to the city took off from Karachi, one each from Lahore,Multan , Sialkot, Faisalabad and one would be air safari.
The air safari flight took off from Islamabad and flied over the snowcapped peaks of K2 and Nanga Parbat as well as Saiful Malook Lake. Apart from the regular operation, two additional flights would depart from Islamabad to Gilgit, he revealed.
“The purpose of special flights is to facilitate the movement of tourists during Eid holidays,” he said. “PIA is taking special measures to promote tourism in the northern region.”
Citing figures, he added that the air carrier transported 34,000 passengers to and from Skardu in the past two and a half months.
Tourism in the northern region has grown by three to four times over the past few months. Gilgit-Baltistan alone has recorded a twofold increase in the number of visitors during the period.
“This growth came because international tourists sought to visit Pakistani sites in the wake of foreign travel restrictions,” he said. “Such visitors buy high-end services.”
Owing to the arrival of a large number of tourists in Skardu, the rent of hotel rooms has tripled to Rs12,000 per day from Rs4,000 earlier.
The fare of vehicles for local visits has also gone up due to a surge in demand. The spokesman pointed out that the demand for hotel rooms was now surpassing the supply, therefore investors were heading to the region to build new hotels or purchase franchises of the existing hospitality chains.
Airbnb, which connects travellers with the home owners willing to offer rooms, is also active in the area.
Road infrastructure has also improved greatly while PIA’s larger flight operation in Gilgit-Baltistan will help stranded passengers, if any, leave the region through the air route.“Investors are also considering introducing international food chains in the northern areas,” he said.
