PIA slammed for almost abandoning Chitral route

CHITRAL, Jan 18: The Pakistan International Airline has drastically reduced its flights to Chitral from Peshawar from twenty one to only once a week while the locals feared its closure altogether. A number of people here related with business and social development said that there was no justification for the reduction of flights in the most profitable sector which supported a multitude of passengers. Dr. Inayatullah Faizi, a renowned intellectual and former project manager of IUCN, said that the PIA flights to Chitral were started in 1962 and had left deep imprints on its culture and one find its description in the local literature of the period. He said that the flights acted as the only medium to connect Chitral with rest of the country after the closure of the Lowari top road during the extended winter season spanning over five months. Dr. Faizi said that to cope with the growing number of passengers, the government used to arrange C-130 flights as well apart from the regular flights. Haider Wali, a tour operator, said that the tourism industry stands affected adversely due to the reduction of PIA flights which was used by the foreign tourists and those coming here to scale the peaks of Hindukush. He said that he knew tens of foreign groups of tourists who diverted their destination to Gilgit-Baltistan simply due to the unavailability of flights to Chitral. “If the airline did not increase its daily flights to Chitral, then the tourism industry will collapse beyond redemption and hundreds of people associated with it will be rendered jobless”, he expressed his apprehensions. Fakhre Alam, a businessman, said that the business class was one of the most affected groups of the reducing number of flights to Chitral which saved their time. He said that the PIA flight takes only thirty minutes to reach Peshawar and a person returned to home town the other day after doing his performing his engagements in Peshawar and other cities. He said that the postal system has also collapsed with the cut in number of flights and it has radiated its minus affects on all the aspects of the routine matters of both public and private sector. Mr. Alam said that the airline acted in quite a bizarre manner as it reduced the number of flights to Chitral responding the ever increasing number of passengers. He blamed the PIA management of deliberately making the Chitral route a failure to make way for an airline of private sector.]]>