Pakistan described as a growing market for aviation industry

Regional Manager North for Emirates Airline in Pakistan, Tariq Obaid has said that Pakistan is a growing market for aviation industry and tough competition among the airlines would enhance products and services being offered to the customers. In an exclusive chat with Business Recorder here on Monday, Tariq Obaid talked about the competition issues in the aviation industry in Pakistan.
He stated that in a growing market, healthy competition helped bring the best out of all the airlines and it also benefited the customers. "Pakistan is a growing market and to have a tough competition is always good. If there is a monopoly, things would barely evolve and the customers suffer," he added.
"We're happy to be operating in a competitive environment in Pakistan as that brings the best out of us. We are evolving and upgrading all the time. Our innovative products and services are second to none and we keep adding new aircraft to our fleet and destinations to our global network," he stated.
The Regional Manager for Emirates airline's operations in North Pakistan further said airline's primary focus was on delivering value for money to their customers. Often perceived in Pakistan as a relatively expensive airline as compared to others, Obaid was of the view that Emirates still enjoyed a healthy market share because it ensured that the customers enjoyed the appropriate value for the money that they're paying to travel with Emirates.
"The idea is to delight the customers. We don't just want our passengers to simply move from one destination to another. We want to give them a memorable experience right from the time when they plan their travel to finally arriving at their destination. We continually upgrade our fleet, as well as our products and services on board to ensure an unparalleled travel experience. In addition to the technology, Emirates also puts emphasis on curating our award-winning in-flight entertainment system, ICE, and we always aim to surpass industry benchmarks. Our new generation in-flight entertainment system, ICE, elevates the viewing experience, and offers passengers the most comprehensive movie and TV selection on any airline," he said.
"From the moment our customers book their flights, whether they choose to do it online, through our mobile app or an agent, till the time they land at their destination, the convenience and the experience we give our customers is the truest representation of the value for money we aim to deliver," he further said.
Talking about Emirates operations in Pakistan, Obaid said Pakistan remained one of their most important destinations. "Pakistan is a very important market for Emirates and we are constantly exploring opportunities to facilitate growth, travel, leisure as well as trade in the country. Emirates and Pakistan have shared a special relationship for over 30 years when its first ever flight landed in Karachi from Dubai on the 25th October 1985. Since then, this significant alliance has continued prospering with Emirates offering world class services to Pakistan's major cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Sialkot and Multan.
Obaid also spoke about how the airline is making a conscious effort to localise its offerings, especially for its Pakistani passengers. "We're currently offering over 2,500 channels on ICE including a vast range of carefully selected Urdu channels as well as movies. Other than that, we offer world class in-flight cuisine from the sub-continent region that is parallel to none and also bilingual cabin crew to ensure that our passengers are well taken care of during their flight," he said.
Tariq Obaid commented, "This value of experience that our passengers get with us is far greater than the price they're paying and that is what our ultimate objective is." Obaid remarked that another aspect where Emirates provided value for money to its Pakistani customers was the extended connectivity to over 150 destinations world-wide. He said Emirates operates 71 weekly flights in six cities in Pakistan and that gave customers the choice of choosing flights which were most convenient to them. There were 35 weekly flights to Karachi, five to Peshawar, 10 each to Lahore and Islamabad, seven to Sialkot and four weekly flights to Multan, he added.