PIA resumes direct flights to Beijing after more than two years

Islamabad: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Sunday restarted direct weekly passenger flights on the Beijing-Islamabad-Beijing route.

PK-854 departed from Islamabad International airport at 6.45am (local time) on Sunday morning to arrive at the Beijing Capital Airport at 14.55 pm local time.

This flight will return to Islamabad later in the evening. The national flag carrier has resumed its direct flights between Islamabad and Beijing after a gap of over two and a half years. The last PIA flight was operated on this route on February 10, 2020.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) stopped flights of all international airlines including PIA to and from Beijing in wake of Covid 19 pandemic prevention and control measures at the beginning of the year 2020.

Now the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has accorded approval to PIA to restart its direct flight operation between Islamabad and Beijing considering Pakistan as the only all-weather strategic partner of China and shared interest and cooperation in various areas between the two countries.

Earlier this month, PIA announced to decrease in its fare for Pakistani students and other passengers traveling between Pakistan to China. Pakistani students intending to travel to China to join their studies at educational institutions in China can take benefit from the new discount scheme.

The ex-Pakistan fare for students with taxes will be around Pakistani Rs 248,000 while the ex-Pakistan fare for other passengers will be around RMB 10,000 (one RMB is around Pakistan Rs 30).

The national flag carrier has offered a discount from 10 percent to 15 percent and an additional seven percent discount on a surcharge for students wishing to travel between Pakistan and China.

Before resuming the flights to Beijing, the PIA was operating two weekly flights on Islamabad-Chengdu-Islamabad and Islamabad-Xian-Beijing-Islamabad routes.

A large number of Pakistani students enrolled in Chinese universities could not return to China following Covid-19 travel restrictions. They are planning to come back to China to join offline classes as the Chinese authorities have allowed them to return. On June 20, a special PIA plane brought the first batch of Pakistani students from Islamabad to Xian. These students were stuck in their home country because of the travel restriction under the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pakistani officials, traders, and students have warmly welcomed the restart of direct PIA passenger flights between the capital cities of Pakistan and China.

The direct flights will also facilitate Chinese personnel working on different projects being completed under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan.