Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will resume flights from Islamabad to Kabul next week, a spokesman told AFP Saturday, becoming the primary foreign commercial service since the Taliban seized power last month.
Kabul airport was severely damaged during a chaotic evacuation of over 120,000 those who ended with the withdrawal folks forces on August 30. The Taliban are scrambling to induce it operating again with Qatari technical assistance.
“We have gotten all technical clearances for flight operations,” PIA spokesman 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 rely upon demand.
“We have received 73 requests which is extremely encouraging… from humanitarian relief agencies and journalists,” he said.
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
