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PM Khan highlights efforts to attract foreign investment as Air Arabia launches airline in Pakistan

An Air Arabia Airbus A320 aircraft is seen taxiing at Qatar's Hamad International Airport near the capital Doha on January 18, 2021. (AFP)
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Updated 04 September 2021
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PM Khan highlights efforts to attract foreign investment as Air Arabia launches airline in Pakistan

  • Fly Jinnah is Air Arabia’s joint venture with Pakistan’s Lakson Group and seeks to contribute to the country’s economic growth and job creation
  • Air Arabia operates from Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, and has similar joint ventures in Abu Dhabi, Egypt, Morocco and Armenia
Updated 04 September 2021
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Friday his government wanted to turn Pakistan into a major destination for international investors as he welcomed the decision of a Middle Eastern budget carrier to form a joint venture with a local company to launch a new airline in the country.
The United Arab Emirates-based Air Arabia along with its local partner, Laskson Group, announced the launch of Fly Jinnah, a low-cost carrier which plans to operate on domestic and international routes, on the same day.
Khan also met with the chairman of the international airline, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani, to welcome him in Pakistan.
“I welcome @airarabiagroup to Pakistan & wish them success in their partnership with local investors to establish a new Pakistani airline, FLY JINNAH,” the prime minister said in a Twitter post. “My govt is committed to attracting investment in Pakistan’s burgeoning travel & tourism sector which offers immense opportunities.”

According to Reuters, Air Arabia operates from Sharjah and Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates, and has similar joint ventures in Abu Dhabi, Egypt, Morocco and Armenia.
Its shares are listed on the Dubai Financial Market.
“The airline has been pushing ahead to expand in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak last year as low-cost carriers bet on a post-pandemic surge in travel,” it said in a news report.
The newly formed joint venture said Fly Jinnah would help Pakistan’s travel and tourism sector and contribute to the country’s economic growth and job creation.
Pakistan’s aviation industry has faced significant troubles in recent months after a plane crash in Karachi last year in which 97 people were killed.
The tragedy was followed by a statement by Pakistan’s aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan who informed a majority of pilots in the country either held fake licenses or did not take necessary qualification exams themselves.
The two events created significant turbulence for the country’s national air carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, which was internationally prohibited from flying on several lucrative routes.
Pakistan’s aviation and information ministers were also present during the prime minister’s meeting with the chairman of Air Arabia on Friday.
 

 

Topics: Pakistan Air Arabia

Suicide bomber attacks security check post in northwestern Pakistan, kills civilian

Updated 4 sec ago
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Suicide bomber attacks security check post in northwestern Pakistan, kills civilian

  • Sixteen civilians, two security personnel wounded in blast near the Afghan border town of Miran Shah
  • Attack comes amid rising militancy as Pakistan steps up military campaign across the Afghan border
Updated 4 sec ago
REHMAT MEHSUD

PESHAWAR: A vehicle-borne suicide bomber targeted a security check post in Pakistan’s northwestern district of North Waziristan on Friday, killing at least one civilian and wounding 16 others, several critically, police and hospital officials said.

The attack struck the Chashma Sarband check post on the Bannu–Miran Shah road in Miran Shah, the main town in the restive tribal district bordering Afghanistan, police said.

The blast comes amid a resurgence of militant attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern border regions and growing tensions with neighboring Afghanistan, where Islamabad says armed groups responsible for violence in Pakistan are based.

“Sixteen civilians were among those wounded, four of whom were in critical condition,” said Dr. Asif Iqbal, the medical superintendent at the district headquarters hospital in Miran Shah.

“One person has died at the hospital,” he said, adding that more injured victims were expected to be brought in.

Police spokesman Fazal Khan said the vehicle-borne suicide attack targeted the security checkpoint along the busy highway.

Two members of the security forces were also wounded in the explosion, he said.

Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sohail Afridi condemned the attack and ordered authorities to submit a report on the incident.

“The incident in which civilians were injured in the Miran Shah Chashma check post explosion is tragic,” he said in a statement.

Afridi directed officials to ensure the best possible medical treatment for the injured and said emergency services and hospital staff had been placed on high alert.

“Cowardly acts of terrorism cannot weaken the resolve of the government and the public,” he added.

Pakistan has witnessed a rise in militant violence in recent months, particularly in regions bordering Afghanistan, where officials say groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, operate from bases across the frontier.

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of sheltering militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan, a charge Kabul denies.

The tensions have escalated further after Pakistan launched air strikes inside Afghanistan earlier this year targeting what it described as militant camps, triggering cross-border clashes between the two neighbors and prompting Islamabad to expand military operations along the frontier.

Pakistan says the campaign, dubbed “Ghazab Lil Haq,” will continue until militant threats from across the border are neutralized.

Topics: Pakistan North Waziristan Militancy

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