Virgin happy to start Pakistan operation

Myra Imran

Islamabad At the timewhen the aviation industry is passing through a huge financial crisis and shrinking its human resource to cover the losses sustained due to COVID-19 pandemic, Virgin Atlantic (VA), voted as Britain’s only Global Five Star Airline by APEX for the third year running in the Official Airline Ratings saw an opportunity for good business in Pakistan and initiated eleven flights a week on three new routes. Founded by Sir Richard Branson 36 years ago, Virgin Atlantic is serving 25 destinations across four continents. By 2022, the airline claims to operate a streamlined fleet of 37 twin-engine aircraft following the retirement of its 747s and A332s, and predicts that its simplified fleetwould be 10 per cent more efficient than before the COVID-19 crisis. The airline touched down in Islamabad from Manchester on December 11, for the first timewhichwas followed by newroutes departing from Islamabad to London Heathrow on December 13 and from Lahore to London Heathrow on December 14. As the decision coincided with a ban on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) over the pilots’ issue, the response to initial flights was overwhelming. As per VA official figures, the first two flights coming into Islamabad were over 92 per cent full and the first flight to Lahore was 82 per cent occupied. “It is a very promising start indeed. We are truly encouraged by the response of travellers on both sides,” said VA’s Chief Customer and Operating Officer Corneel Koster in an interview with ‘The News’. Koster travelled for the first time to Pakistan in the launching VA flight to Islamabad. UK is home to the largest Pakistani diaspora community in theworld,with around 1.6million people of Pakistani heritage living in the UK. The new Virgin Atlantic services will provide vital connectivity for friends and relatives visiting family and loved ones, in addition to serving the growing demand for business and leisure travel. “We have started three routes in four days. Today as we speak we nearly have the Lahore arrival and near to the first departure from Lahore to Heathrow. Then we have Manchester to Islamabad and Heathrow to Islamabad,” he said.Koster said that Pakistan was always on VA’s mediumterm and longer-term network list and the good thing is that the COVID actually accelerated this. “Despite pandemic, a lot of people are still visiting friends and relatives between UK and Pakistan. So we thought why wait next year or the year after.We can do it now and we decided to go big. From zero flights a week to eleven flights aweek on three destinations. It’s quite a huge leap.” He said that flights not only connect the world and facilitate people but they also get the business and trade going. “Hopefully more and more people will now explore what Pakistan really has to offer. It is such a beautiful country with such hospitable people.” About job opportunities created by VA, he said that they have hired the local team and the airport teams. “Over time we would love to create more jobs. And of course trade, tourismand connectivity also generate jobs.” VA’s Chief Customer and Operating Officer said that the decision to be in Pakistan was taken in August this year. “When we looked at Pakistan, we knew that it would be strong frompassenger demands as well as cargo demands. So there is a lot of textile, garments, and fresh fruit coming out of Pakistan and there are lots of industrial goods and pharmaceuticals coming in. We felt that it is an opportunity to contribute to keeping the global supply chain moving.” He said that for VA, it is not only about UK-Pakistan but is also about the connections into the US. “We have a fantastic partnership with Delta Airlines, and we can connect Pakistan to 200 destinations in the US and particularly New York. New York again has a large Pakistan diaspora. About the impact of Corona on the Aviation Industry, he said that the industry is going through a very tough time. “The VA took some early measures to make sure that we ride out the storm. We are now bouncing back and growing back.” Koster said that VA has a very strong health and safety measures in place. “It includes mask-wearing throughout the flight. We hand out safety packs containingmasks, hand gel, wipes. We sterilise all the cabins. We have filters that modern aircrafts have which takes 99.9 per cent of the contaminants, bacteria or viruses out of the air.” He said that these are still challenging times for business. “It’s not just the passengers, it is also trade, good, and services. Even when we were not flying passengers for a little while during the pandemic, we were still flying cargo only flights. By now we have flown 3,500 cargoonly flights. We don’t have full cargo aircrafts but our Dreamliner is very capable of taking a lot of cargo.” Despite the current tough time, Koster is optimistic about the future of the airline industry. “Now the vaccines have been rolled out already in many other countries, we see demand particularly in two sectors. One is to go see friends and relatives and the other is for holidays for the people that have been under lockdown. They want to go and experience theworld and make those real-life connections. And also the business. A lot of businessmen and women I speak to are completely tired of zoomcalls.We are quite confident that industrywill bounce back.Most industry experts say that it will take around four to five years to 2019 levels. Itwill take time but I think it will be sooner than that.” About the assumption that vaccination will become obligatory in future for travel, he said that currently, he could not predict the situation but of course when vaccines would be available, the VA would certainly recommend that everybody gets the vaccine. He said that VA is delighted to be in Pakistan. “I felt so proud at the Heathrow when I walked up to the flight and saw the crew welcoming passengers with “Assalam- o-Alaikum” at the door. They are offering halal food and have introduced ‘biryani’ in the meals. After his visit, Koster plans to check with VA catering team to offer ‘karak chaay’ as well. “Humien Pakistan flights operate kernay per fakhar hay and Pakistan Zindabad (We are proud of operating flights from Pakistan and long live Pakistan,” he said at the end. While it is a welcome sign that Pakistan is among the VA routes, only timewill tell if this opportunity proves mutually beneficial and long-lasting.