UAE envoy honours first-ever Emirates Airline Pak captain

ISLAMABAD: The Ambassador of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Hamad Obaid Alzaabi, honoured the first-ever Emirates Airline flight Captain (retd) Fazal Ghani Mian here at the embassy of the UAE.

The ambassador representing a thankful and proud nation acknowledged the meritorious services of the Captain who belongs to Pakistan. The Emirates and Pakistan have a shared history tracing back more than 30 years: The airline’s first flight went from Dubai to Karachi on Oct. 25, 1985. “I came to Dubai on Oct. 1, 1985, and met with Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum and the Emirates Airline Managing Director Maurice Flanagan and their teams. We discussed the tasks ahead and how we wanted to proceed,” said the Pakistan International Airline’s flight Captain Mian.

On October 18, a group of 100 pilots, flight and aircraft engineers and maintenance staff, among others, all came to Dubai to initiate the planning stages.

“I was also tasked to train UAE national pilots. They were trained in Dubai and got their commercial licenses from the Civil Aviation Authority in Pakistan,” said Mian, while sharing his experience in a video of the Emirates’ 30th anniversary. “I was blessed to be with very competent professionals to lay the foundation of Emirates” he added.

In the past three decades, Emirates has progressively expanded its operations and offering global connectivity and world-class services to Pakistan’s major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Sialkot and Multan. This week, Emirates has announced the deployment of a one-off A380 service to Islamabad starting July 8. The airline’s iconic double-decker will make its inaugural arrival in Islamabad on a special flight EK2524/EK2525, the Emirates News Agency reported.

“We are proud to bring our flagship A380 aircraft to Islamabad,” said Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, divisional senior vice president Commercial Operations Center at Emirates.