JEDDAH, 2 May 2003 — Pakistan International Airlines held a function here recently to reward its top travel agents. Pakistan’s Ambassador Abdul Aziz Mirza said the airline performed remarkably well during 2002, which resulted in a 10 percent increase in its revenue.
He said PIA’s revenue from its operations in Saudi Arabia grew despite the fallout of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the US.
Ambassador Aziz stressed the importance of good service and a better marketing strategy saying constant improvement in service was needed as PIA has a big stake in the Saudi Arabian market.
The airline operates around 2,000 flights annually between the Kingdom and Pakistan including extra flights during Haj and Umrah.
He also thanked all government departments of the Kingdom for supporting PIA in carrying out flight operations.
PIA operates daily flights to Karachi and non-stop direct flights to Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar several times a week with onward connections to Europe and North America.
The airline has sales offices in Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Makkah, Madinah, Yanbu and Abha.
During 2002, PIA was able to sign air services agreement with the government of Saudi Arabia which allows the carrier to mount additional capacity between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
This year PIA operated more than 600 flights during the Haj season carrying over 110,000 pilgrims.