By John Huston, airwaysmag.com
Pakistani startup airline AirSial (PF) on Sunday received its first aircraft, an Airbus A320, at Jinnah International Airport (KHI). The craft, registration AP-BOA, is a 16-year-old Airbus A320-200 previously registered as ZK-OJH.
The aircraft has flown with other airlines including Air New Zealand (NZ) and Freedom Air (SJ). The plane had been held in storage in Arizona. It was ferried to Pakistan via stops in New Hampshire, Ireland, and Egypt.
This first aircraft is part of a three-A320 lease agreement with major aircraft lessor, AerCap. AerCap chief executive Aengus Kelly said, “With the rapid growth in air traffic in Pakistan as well as air liberalization, AirSial is well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity.”
AirSial Coming Soon
The Sialkot Chamber of Commerce & Industry launched PF to improve air travel to and from the Sialkot region in the Punjab district of northeast Pakistan. Sialkot, an industrial city in the state of Punjab, is a major manufacturing and export center. Sialkot is the second largest source of foreign exchange earnings for Pakistan due to its exports and remittances from overseas manpower.
Although it is not yet booking, the airline plans to initially serve domestic destinations within Pakistan. Information on www.airsial.com shows the airline will conduct daily round trip flights from Kirachi to Islamabad (ISB), Lahore (LHE), Sialkot (SKT), and Peshawar (PEW). PF plans to further expand to destinations within the Middle East at a later date.
