PIA unhappy with Virgin Atlantic's arrival in Pakistan

It looks like Pakistan International Airline (PIA) seems to be unhappy with the arrival of Virgin Atlantic to Pakistan, as the national carrier has decided to raise the issue at highest level.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has already scheduled a meeting on PIA next week, which will be attended by the Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar, PIA Chief Executive Officer Air Marshal Arshad Malik, the CAA director general and the relevant officials, according to Express Tribune.

Britain’s Virgin Atlantic began flying from Manchester to Islamabad earlier this month, and will be complementing this with another two services from London Heathrow to Islamabad and Lahore. It is the second UK airlines to operate in Pakistan after the British Airways.

Due to European Air Safety Agency ban, national carrier is facing problems, said PIA officials. Allowing British airlines to operate two-way base flights was an injustice as the private airlines would affect the PIA financially.

The officials said that PIA was operating 28 flights to the UK and despite the restrictions, the operation was being carried out by alternative means.

They added that the PIA administration was opposed to handing over the London and Manchester routes to the foreign airline.

The publication citing its sources said that PIA CEO would take up the matter with the prime minister and apprise him of his concerns regarding foreign airlines’ operations. He would also brief the prime minister on the performance and challenges of the national airline.