Pakistan’s new low-cost airline Fly Jinnah starts operations
Fleet of Airbus A320-200 aircraft equipped with SkyTime, free in-flight streaming service
Islamabad: Pakistan’s new low-cost airline, Fly Jinnah, began flight operations on Tuesday with its first commercial flight to Islamabad from Karachi.
The aircraft was welcomed at Islamabad International Airport with a traditional water cannon salute. The inaugural flight was flown on October 31 and the operations officially started on November 1. The airline recently received its air operator certificate and licence from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA).
“We are excited to begin operations across five destinations in Pakistan”, the airline said. The flight destinations include four domestic routes connecting Karachi to Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta, with fares starting from PKR14,000 ($63) one way. Fly Jinnah will initially serve domestic routes out of its base in Karachi before expanding internationally.
The new entrant Fly Jinnah is starting its operations with a fleet of three Airbus A320-200 aircraft that are equipped with “SkyTime”, a free in-flight streaming service.
Fly Jinnah is a joint venture between Pakistan’s business conglomerate Lakson Group and UAE-based low-cost carrier (LCC) operator Air Arabia Group, announced in September 2021. Air Arabia will be a minority stakeholder in Fly Jinnah while the controlling stakeholder is Lakson Group.
“We are confident that Fly Jinnah will offer its customers a convenient air travel option backed up with a value-driven product and services,” the airline chairman Iqbal Ali Lakhani said at the inaugural ceremony. He said that the airline looks forward to catering to the needs of the Pakistani market and contributing to the growth of the travel and tourism sector of Pakistan”.
Adel Al Ali, the group chief executive officer of Air Arabia, said: “Today marks a special occasion as Fly Jinnah takes off to the skies. This step reflects the carrier’s strategic commitment to offer reliable and value-for-money air travel to its customer base in Pakistan.” Fly Jinnah follows Air Arabia’s successful low-cost business model operating short to medium haul flights focusing on its customer base with a reliable operation and value-driven product.
Fly Jinnah joins a small number of Pakistani airlines - Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), AirBlue, Serene Air, and AirSial.