PIA says operations in Afghanistan are “not financially profitable” due to difficult circumstances, but some Afghan experts say high demand has led to a sharp rise in fares.
Afghan citizens and government officials have called on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to resume its Kabul operations soon on old fares.
The PIA launched special flights from Kabul to the Pakistani capital Islamabad after the Taliban regained control in mid-August. The service was acting as a lifeline for many Afghans to travel to Pakistan for medical treatment or to escape the economic crisis or the Taliban government.
According to travel agents working in Kabul, most of the world’s airlines are no longer operating flights to Afghanistan. They were selling for up to 2,500 up from 150.
Earlier this week, however, the Taliban’s communications ministry issued a statement ordering the Pakistani airline to return Kabul-Islamabad flight tickets back to the old prices or face an operation from Kabul airport. Will not be allowed
Following the Taliban’s statement, the PIA said flights to Kabul had been suspended due to unprofessional behavior by Taliban officials.
Bilal Karimi, a spokesman for the Taliban’s cultural commission and spokesman, told Arab News on Saturday: We hope that the PIA will understand the demands of the Islamic Emirate’s Ministry of Transport and Aviation and act accordingly.
He added: We want resources to be provided to ordinary Afghans who want to go to Pakistan, but what can be done for those who do not have that much money?
Ordinary Afghans are hopeful that flights will soon be available at cheaper fares. In order to save lives, some people have to travel to Pakistan for treatment because the health infrastructure in Afghanistan is weak where many facilities are not available.
Abdul Ali Husseini arrived in Kabul on October 8th after the ISIS attack in the northern city of Kunduz to transport his wounded brother to Pakistan for immediate surgery. I brought my brother to Kabul after the attack he told Arab News. He is in a hospital emergency. The doctors told me that they would have to move to Pakistan for further surgery
Husseini added that flight suspensions and high ticket prices were a problem. We hope the flights will resume and we will be able to buy tickets at cheaper prices. Ataullah, 35, has brought his mother from Helmand Province to Kabul with leukemia for immediate treatment in Pakistan.
I was asked for 2,500 for a ticket,” he said. I am trying to bring my mother to Pakistan as soon as possible. I don’t know what will happen now. I’m hoping for a miracle. Mohammad Rashid, from Kabul, said he had received a scholarship from an Italian university but was unable to travel due to the high cost of PIA tickets.
Rashid, 26, told Arab News: I have 15 days to go to Islamabad and from there to Italy. I will miss this opportunity. Similarly, Saeed, who works for a foreign agency in Afghanistan, wants to leave the country with his family and is now trying to reach Islamabad. But now the closure of PIA flights to Kabul is a serious challenge for them.
Saeed said: Our visas have been sent by a foreign embassy working in Islamabad. They have asked me to come to Pakistan within a week. The delay in my arrival in Pakistan has now become a major issue for us, which has multiplied the security concerns for me in Kabul.
The PIA says Afghanistan’s operations are “not very financially profitable” due to difficult circumstances, but some Afghan experts say high demand has led to a significant increase in fares by Pakistan’s national carrier. Is.
Syed Masood, a professor of economics at Kabul University, told Arab News: The demand for travel to Islamabad has increased. Everyone is trying to reach Islamabad and any other country from there as soon as possible. PIA is trying to make more money through flights to Islamabad.
PIA has not announced when it will resume flights to Afghanistan, but Ahmed Saleem Rouhani, the airline’s representative in Kabul, said he was hopeful the airline would soon resume operations with cheaper fares.
Once the flights resume, we hope that ticket prices will come down he said.
