ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines will resume flights from Islamabad to Kabul next week, a spokesperson told AFP Saturday, becoming the first foreign commercial service since the Taliban seized power last month.
Kabul airport was severely damaged during a chaotic evacuation of more than 120,000 people that ended with the withdrawal of US forces on August 30. The Taliban have been scrambling to get it operating again with Qatari technical assistance.
“We have got all technical clearances for flight operations,” PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan told AFP.
“Our first commercial plane […] is scheduled to fly from Islamabad to Kabul on September 13.”
Khan said the service would depend on demand. “We have received 73 requests which is very encouraging […] from humanitarian relief agencies and journalists,” he said.
Following the fall of Kabul last month, the PIA became the sole commercial airline that carried out evacuation operations helping diplomats and foreign nationals from Afghanistan exit the country.
However, on August 24, after having operated seven special flights and repatriated as many as 1,460 people — mostly foreigners — the airline had temporarily suspended flights operations to and from Kabul, putting a halt to the evacuation process, citing a lack of “permission”.
In the last two days, Qatar Airways has operated two charter flights out of Kabul, carrying mostly foreigners and Afghans who missed being taken out during the evacuation.
An Afghanistan airline resumed domestic flights last week.
