“Pakistan International Airlines has become the first Pakistani airline to have a completely safe crew,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik announced in an official statement. PIA is determined to ensure the safety of not only passengers but also its staff, he added.
Grateful to the Government of Pakistan for ensuring 100% vaccination for all our PIA employees and their families!#PIA #FlyPIA #GreatPeopleToFlyWith pic.twitter.com/6BIsxBGgVn
— PIA (@Official_PIA) June 17, 2021
“PIA considers health and safety of its passengers, crew, and employees as of paramount importance, and this initiative shows our commitment in adhering to global health & safety standards,” CEO Arshad Malik had said earlier.
He added that the national carrier is strictly following all the COVID-19 SOPs to ensure the safety of its passengers. PIA regularly disinfects aircraft is regulated by the concerned quarters.
To encourage people to get vaccinated, PIA also launched a campaign where it offered a 10% percent discount on domestic tickets to people who show their vaccination certificates.
Being vaccinated now comes with another advantage! Show your vaccination certificate and get a 10% off on domestic tickets
*Valid for ages 50 & above.#PIA #FlyPIA #GreatPeopleToFlyWith pic.twitter.com/AYQdMd5Uhx— PIA (@Official_PIA) June 12, 2021
Covid19 wreaked havoc across the world and the air passenger travel also took a big hit. The aviation industry was impacted greatly by the spread of coronavirus, with a drastic decrease in the number of in 2020. Over 4.5 billion passengers traveled globally before the pandemic; this number fell to roughly 1.76 billion after the virus began to spread.
“During Covid-19 period, charter revenue of the company increased significantly due to special charter flights operated by the company,” read an annual report released by PIA.
Read More: Message from Arshad Malik, CEO PIA
However, PIA is now ready to bounce back as it has expressed to make a full-fledged return to the skies. The national carrier has expressed hope that a boost to its flight operations would help turn around its financial performance.
Talking about the airline’s plans to operate on new routes and resumption of commercial flights to Saudi Arabia, UAE, UK and Canada, PIA’s CEO had said that flights on the Gulf and Saudi Arabian routes were temporarily suspended due to the Covid-19 restrictions imposed on airlines by these countries.
He also explained that the airline was in talks with UK authorities to review the suspension of flights to the European nation. British government still followed EU rules, which had been applied before Brexit deal was inked, he said.
Malik further said that PIA was still operating flights to domestic destinations for the national cause though they are not commercially viable at the moment. “The airline is working hard to provide easy access from such cities to the rest of Pakistan and the world”, he added.