Islamabad-Chitral flights from 15th

By Zar Alam Khan

ISLAMABAD, June 13: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)
has decided to restart its Islamabad-Chitral service from June
15.
The decision has been taken on public demand and to facilitate
tourists in visiting the scenic valley particularly during the
forthcoming Shandur festival.
Initially, the national flag carrier will operate one flight
daily which will take off from Islamabad at 7am and reach Chitral
via Peshawar. On return, the flight will also take the Peshawar
route to the capital.
PIA had first launched the service on May 25, 2007 to lessen
the communication problems of the area which remains cut off from
rest of the country in winter due to closure of the Lowari Pass.
However, the flights were suspended after about six months citing
unavailability of enough passengers.
But people of the valley had contested the claim and said
the PIA management deliberately made it impossible for the
passengers to get seats on the flights despite long queues of
ticket seekers in its offices in Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Chitral.
Meanwhile, Chitrali people living in the twin cities of Rawalpindi
and Islamabad have welcomed the PIA decision and called upon its
management to take special measures to facilitate the ticket seekers.