ISLAMABAD – Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will resume flights from here to Kabul next week, a spokesman told AFP today, becoming the first foreign commercial service since the Taliban seized power last month.
Kabul airport was severely damaged during a chaotic evacuation of over 120,000 people that ended with the withdrawal of United States forces on August 30. The Taliban has been scrambling to get it operating again with Qatari technical assistance.
“We have gotten all the technical clearances for flight operations,” said PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez Khan.
“Our first commercial plane... is scheduled to fly from Islamabad to Kabul on September 13.”
He said the service will depend on demand.
“We have received 73 requests, which is very encouraging... from humanitarian relief agencies and journalists.”
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 Afghan airline resumed domestic flights last week. – AFP, September 11, 2021
