Turkish Airlines to carry Pakistanis to Europe, US

The agreement between Turkish Airlines and Pakistani Airlines, or PIA, for the Turkish flagship carrier to carry Pakistani passengers to the U.S and Europe via Istanbul’s Atatürk Airport has received varying media reports in both countries.

Turkey’s daily Hürriyet reported Tuesday that Turkish Airlines General Manager Temel Kotil and PIA General Manager Muhammed Aijaz Haroon signed the agreement Dec. 29 in Karachi.

According to the agreement, Pakistani passengers would arrive at Atatürk Airport and then transfer to Turkish Airlines flights to destinations like, New York, Chicago, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy.

To keep up with the increase in passenger numbers due to the new agreement, Turkish Airlines has decided it will increase its number of weekly flights from Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad to Istanbul to 21.

The Pakistani daily The Nation, however, reported on its website that PIA Managing Director Ijaz Haroon and the employees’ representative associations failed to reach a consensus over a controversy that surfaced after the agreement was signed, according to a participant in Monday’s meeting who asked to remain anonymous.

The meeting participants exchanged hot words on the issue, he said.

The representatives of bodies including the Pakistan Airlines Pilots Association, the Society of Aircraft Engineers Pakistan, the Flight Engineers Association, the Aircraft Technicians Association of Pakistan, the Senior Staff Association, and others say the agreement is based on speculation and PIA management has no remedy if the airline faces losses via the agreement with Turkish Airlines, the daily reported.

“It is worth mentioning that PIA under the agreement would surrender all its existing routes to Europe and the Americas except London, Oslo, Copenhagen and Paris,” The Nation reported. “Passengers for New York and Chicago will now be carried by PIA aircraft to Turkey, where they will then proceed to their destination after boarding a [Turkish Airlines] plane for onward flights.”

“Ijaz Haroon assured the representatives that a committee would be formed to brief them about developments regarding the agreement. However, trade unionists said the exercise was a delaying tactic, saying the airline had been pushed to the brink of destruction,” the daily reported. It added that figures showed the national flagship carrier was facing annual losses of 4 billion Pakistan rupees ($46.7 million) by operating flights in the U.S.-Pakistan sector. With the agreement, Pakistani passengers will still be able to travel to 130 destinations in the United States and Europe and PIA would be able to close all unprofitable routes, he said, according to the Nation’s report.

(source:hurriyetdailynews.com)