Lahore: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has suspended flights from Karachi to Mumbai, which media reports said were due to India-Pakistan tensions.
The PIA administration, however, rejected all media reports that fights have been suspected due to tense ties between the neighbours. A senior PIA official said the decision for suspending flights from Monday was due to less traffic volume on this route.
The airline’s spokesperson Daniyal Gilani said the reason behind this step is purely commercial and it has no direct relevance with Pakistan-India tensions.
PIA operated two flights on Karachi to Mumbai route in two days a week (Monday and Thursday) while its Lahore to Delhi operation will continue due to satisfactory traffic volume on this route, and Karachi — Mumbai route can be included in this route.
The airline official further said no flight was operated from Karachi to Mumbai and Mumbai to Karachi from April 8, and booking was also stopped on these routes as PIA has been suffering heavy financial losses on this route for the past six months.
No special subsidy is being given by the government on this route, and therefore, there are no chances of restoration of the route in near future.
