PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s national flag carrier will start operating direct flights from Lahore to Peshawar from October 1 to facilitate the business community, the airline’s spokesperson said.
The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights will depart from Allama Iqbal International Airport to Bacha Khan International Airport on Mondays and Fridays.
“It is hoped that the initiative will greatly facilitate passengers and businesspeople. Traveling via road is physically tiring and time consuming,” PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan told Arab News on Saturday.
He said the route’s opening aimed at bridging the main cities of the eastern province of Punjab and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, between which flights were briefly operated only once, 17 years ago.
The flights will be served by ATR aircraft.
The new route is expected to increase the ease of doing business, as a road commute from Lahore to Peshawar takes about seven hours.
Located near the Afghan border, Peshawar has a strategic importance for Pakistan’s trade with Afghanistan trade, while Lahore is a main business hub.
“Businesspeople in particular found it difficult to travel to Peshawar from Lahore via road, which was time consuming,” Muhammad Arafat, a custom clearing agent, told Arab News. “This will spur economic activities.”
