- ‘The aviation ministry and FBR are already in talks on how to reduce the taxes on travel’
ISLAMABAD: The most ardent exchange during Pakistan Tourism Summit’s (PTS) Day-1 panel discussions came from Aviation and Tourism Leader Masud M Khan and Airblue Airline Deputy Managing Director Raheel Ahmed. The point of contention: To have or not to have an airline that facilitates the overseas Pakistanis as well as foreigners to come into Pakistan?
Masood was of the opinion that over the past four to five decades, the number of Pakistanis who have settled abroad has grown by four or five folds, however, the same is not translated into the number of Pakistanis taking Pakistani airlines to come into the country.
Moderating the second session of the PTS, he said that airlines do not have enough capacity, and not even enough flights to foreign countries, such as countries in Scandinavia. “In olden days when you boarded a PIA flight to or from any Scandinavian country, half the people used to be foreigners. Now they are all ethnic Pakistanis.”
In an interesting exchange with the Airblue deputy managing director, he also candidly blamed the Pakistani airlines for the dearth of flights to foreign countries in the first place. “You have not even tapped the market of overseas Pakistanis yet,” he said.
Raheel Ahmed said unless there are a minimum number of passengers for each route, it is not financially viable for any airline to start such a service. “You have seen that there is only space for 4 to 5 airlines in the market. Every time a new airline enters and expands, an older one goes out of business.”
He said that is where tourism especially holds importance and once there is enough market, then Pakistan’s airlines will also have a chance to expand there.
“No one likes to take connecting flights, and Pakistan’s airlines can provide direct flights from Europe and other locations. But for that there needs to be enough number of passengers. For now the buying power of Pakistan’s consumers is not that much for them to be called a potential market either.”
Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan took the rostrum for his speech on ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and said that the aviation ministry and FBR are already in talks on how to reduce the taxes on travel. “Tourism is not standalone anymore. It is part of the development agenda,” he added.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the occasion reiterated the incumbent government’s resolve to open up Pakistan for international tourism and travel.
The two-day Pakistan Tourism Summit would end on April 3 (tomorrow) with Prime Minister Imran Khan expected to deliver the keynote address at the closing ceremony. The summit has brought experts from the aviation and tourism industries together with politicians, policymakers, students, and investors.
