Karachi traders to launch a new airline

KARACHI: In a significant development, traders in the industrial hub of the country have announced to launch a new airline.

Sharing the details, a businessman named Hanif Gohar informed media on Tuesday that the traders have already submitted a request with the federal government for issuance of a license for the airline, which, he hoped will be issued soon.

The traders have already found a company, ‘Air Karachi’ for the purpose. Southern Commander Air Vice Marshal Imran is the chief officer of the company while Aqeel Karim Dhedi, Arif Habib, SM Tanveer, Bashir Jan Muhammad, Khalid Tawab, Zubair Tufail, and Hamza Tabani are its shareholders.

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The company is all set to launch a new airline as its registration with the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has also been done.

According to Gohar, the company is found with an initial investment of Rs5 billion with each shareholder counting in Rs50 million.

Initially, Air Karachi will get three aeroplanes on lease with hopes to add more birds to its fleet.   

Amid the Pakistan’s only national airline, PIA, facing privatization threats due to financial burden, the market is feasible more than ever for the launching of a new airline.

Earlier, PMLN-N supremo Nawaz Sharif spilled the beans about the intentions of his daughter and chief minister of Punjab’s plan to acquire PIA and convert it into ‘Air Punjab’.

Similar proposal was coined by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government for ‘purchasing’ the national airplane when its bidding failed more than once.

The KP chief minister vowed when the maximum bid submitted in the auction wasn’t even near to the benchmarked amount, that he will go to any length to acquire PIA.