BEIJING: China is willing to restore and expand air routes and personnel exchanges with Pakistan in an orderly manner, a senior Chinese official said.
Last week, talking to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Chin’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that China was willing to restore and expand air routes and personnel exchanges between the two countries in an orderly manner, according to a senior official of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At present, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is operating two weekly flights on Islamabad-Chengdu-Islamabad and Islamabad-Xian-Beijing-Islamabad routes while Air China and China Southern Airlines are operating on Beijing-Islamabad-Karachi and Wuhan-Islamabad routes respectively.
PIA is also making efforts to launch weekly flights between Islamabad and Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, according to an official of the national flag carrier. PIA has recently resumed its passenger flights on Beijing-Islamabad section after a gap of nearly seven months as the Beijing Capital International Airport was closed for the international flights following Covid-19 prevention and control measures.
On June 20, a special of PIA had brought first batch of Pakistani students from Islamabad to Xian, China. These students were stuck in the motherland because of Covid-19.
This week, China’s Hainan Airlines charter passenger plane carrying 163 Pakistani businessmen landed at Hangzhou city opening a new channel for China-Pakistan trade against the backdrop of the epidemic and providing great convenience for Pakistani traders to Yiwu city. Ali Imran, a Pakistani researcher, said that the resumption of flights on various routes between China and Pakistan will greatly facilitate Pakistani community including officials, traders and students across China as well as the Chinese personnel working on different projects being completed under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan. –Agencies
