Imran Khan inaugurates Pakistan’s new private airline AirSial
International Experts record in today’s world, aviation facilitates access to countries and cities, increases multi layered efficiencies in travel and makes safety and security in travel top priorities. The aviation sector is rapidly taking gender equality at heart. Aviation is therefore ideally positioned to support the innovation discourse and its potential impacts on new mobility. Aviation has truly has been at the forefront of innovation to become one of the safest and most reliable modes of transportation in the world today. Statistics showed that the volume of air traffic is surprising to some. Aircraft are taking off around the world at a rate of over 400 departures per hour – and that’s only scheduled commercial traffic. Air transport takes people and cargo around the world, and like bees pollinating the world economy, air transport can have a tremendous impact on the social and economic development and sustainability of a region. In 2017, airlines worldwide carried around 4.1 billion passengers. They transported 56 million tons of freight on 37 million commercial flights.
Every day, airplanes transport over 10 million passengers and around USD 18 billion worth of goods. This indicates the significant economic impact of aviation on the world economy, which is also demonstrated by the fact that aviation represents 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) worldwide (2.7 trillion US dollars) and has created 65 million jobs globally. The Experts also predicted that if the growth path is attained by 2036 the air transport industry will then contribute 15.5 million in direct career opportunities and $1.5 trillion of GDP to the world economy. Once the impacts of global tourism are taken into account, these numbers could rise to 97.8 million jobs and $5.7 trillion in GDP. By mid-2030s no fewer than 200,000 flights per day are expected to take off and land all over the world. World wide – 51 percent of the population lives within 100 km of an International Airport – and 74 percent live within 100 km of any kind of airport. In the developing countries like Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan presently inaugurated AirSial – Pakistan’s new private airline. He Launched in Pakistan’s famous industrial city of Sialkot. This is the third private airline in Pakistan after Airblue and Serene Air. With its current fleet of three Airbus A320-200s, AirSial will begin operations with regular flights to and from Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Sialkot and Peshawar before enlarging operations. The airline hopes to embark on its international journey in 2-year. PM also congratulated the vibrant business community of Sialkot for their dedicated attempts for the country through first launching Sialkot International Airport, Pakistan’s first privately-owned public airport, and now a private airline service. The New airline would create a culture of healthy competition in the aviation industry, offer enhanced services and bring down fares, the premier hoped. AirSial that aims to become the leading airline of the region is the brainchild of members of the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The city’s businessmen also financed the Sialkot Airport, completed during 2007 at a cost of almost Rs 4 billion. Imran Khan lauded the initiative of Sialkot city businesspersons to set up an airport to boost trade and business activities and support exporters and business community. He expressed optimism that AirSial would greatly benefit the people of Sialkot and assist Sialkot emerge as export centre of Pakistan. Ameen Ahsan, CEO of AirSial, envisaged the airline to become an important multiplier of economic activity in Pakistan’s national economy. It is also expected that the airline will give a boost to the aviation sector while creating career opportunities, strengthening economy and contributing to foreign exchange. During the visit, the Prime Minister Imran Khan also interacted with the business community of Sialkot city, famous for producing the world’s finest quality footballs and sports goods. AirSial, Airblue and Serene Air are not the only private airlines launched in the country during the past decades. However, other private airlines, counting Shaheen Air, Bhoja Air and Air Indus, were all forced to suspend operations either because of financial crisis or not fulfilling Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) requirements.
