ISLAMABAD: PIA is resuming its operation on Islamabad-Chitral route from April 30, it was learnt here on Sunday.
The national flag carrier will operate two flights per week, mostly aimed at facilitating tourists to visit the valley. the flights will be on every Saturday and Tuesday and its timings will be: departure from Islamabad at 2pm and departure from Chitral at 3:40pm.
Meanwhile, PIA is operating a special chartered flight from Islamabad to Chitral on April 18 and on return it will carry passengers to Islamabad. The flight will depart from Chitral at 11:40pm.
The PIA flights to Chitral are operated for a few months in summers and last year the non-inclusion of Chitral in tourist spots in the flight schedule of PIA issued had been raised in the National Assembly. The house was told that the flight schedule to Chitral was linked with passengers’ traffic load.
The flights were stated to be scheduled in May to August last year owing to the increase in the traffic load of tourists, but these were not operated as scheduled.
Because of the super high fares the sustainability of this service is doubtful. Last year they were suspended soon after commencing due to low passengers which was due to high fares.