MULTAN City News

Emirates, Qatar airlines launch service from Multan Airport
From Our Correspondent
MULTAN: The Emirates Airlines has launched its service from Multan as its first flight reached here on Sunday while the first flight of Qatar Airways will arrive today at the Multan Airport.
Talking to reporters, Emirates Airlines vice-president Khalid Bardan said the Multan was the sixth international destination in Pakistan. He said that Emirates and Pakistan had a longstanding relationship of 30 years. In fact, Emirates history began with Pakistan when the airlines launched its very first flight to Karachi on October 25, 1985, he added.
He said that Emirates served Pakistan with 80 weekly flights from six cities - Karachi, Lahore, Sialkot, Islamabad, Peshawar and Multan. Khalid Bardan said,” I am hopeful that the service would expand Multan commercial and cultural connections with our city and beyond”. He said, “We are operating a Boeing 777-300 aircraft on the route. The aircraft could carry up to 23 tons of cargo, opening up many more trade opportunities in the region.”
Multan Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Mian Iqbal Hassan said that international direct flights would boost up exports of mangoes, citrus, vegetables and other goods to the European Union, the United States, Africa and other places.
Iqbal said that the airline had steadily grown its network and continued to link the Pakistani community to the UAE as well as worldwide destinations. He said that Dubai and Pakistan had very close links due to the large community of Pakistanis living there.
The Qatar Airways officials said that the airline had started its direct international passenger and cargo flights between Multan and Doha. It currently operates 45 flights a week across four cities in Pakistan – two daily flights to Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, and three flights a week to Peshawar.
Meanwhile, Civil Aviation Authority sources said that a Turkish airline had shown interest in launching international services from Multan to Istanbul and had initiated a survey in this regard.