A direct flight from Bahrain to Lahore is being launched by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), its newly appointed manager in Bahrain said.
All clearance for the non-stop operation has been received and the logistics are now being worked out, Syed Rahat Jameel told the Gulf Daily News. “Hopefully, we should have the flight in place within the next few weeks,” he added.
Jameel said the 236-seater Airbus A-310 would depart Bahrain every Wednesday at 10 pm and reach Lahore in time for passengers to connect to several destinations within Pakistan.
"We are sure there will be a lot of demand from the local Pakistani community and those of other nationalities," he said. At present PIA operates one flight a week, a 150-seater Boeing 737 that flies to Karachi via Doha every Thursday. The demand has always been there, but several operational issues have resulted in us not being able to expand our schedule," said Jameel.
He added that between 15 and 20 per cent of all passengers per flight are Indian nationals travelling to Mumbai. PIA operates an all-economy operation on the Karachi flight, which will be mirrored on the Bahrain-Lahore sector.
“There is virtually no demand for premium class seats on these sectors,” said Jameel.
PIA commenced operations to Bahrain in 1963 and has at times offered up to four flights a week to keep up with increase in demand.