Turkish Airlines okays codeshare agreement with PIA

KARACHI: Turkish Airlines has okayed for code-sharing agreement with the national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), ARY News reported on Sunday.

Under the new agreement, the passengers of national carrier could travel to different destinations in the United Kingdom (UK) and Europe.

The foreign airline has shown agreement for code sharing with PIA after accepting the offer of the chief executive officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik in a response letter.

The agreement will allow both airlines for code sharing for different destinations in the UK and Europe including Birmingham, London, Milan Barcelona, Copenhagen and Oslo.

Read: PIA going to commence flights to Turkey in August: CEO

PIA passengers will be able to book their tickets of Turkish Airlines to European routes from Istanbul airport.

The codeshare agreement will be activated between PIA and Turkish Airlines in view of the suspension of flight operations of the national carrier in Britain, Europe and United States (US) due to dubious licences of Pakistanis pilots.

Earlier on July 21, it emerged that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had prepared a draft of appeal against the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) decision to ban national flag carrier’s flights to Europe,

The national flag carrier had prepared its defence against the decision in light of the EASA Safety Assessment of Foreign Aircraft (SAFA) programme.

According to key points of the defence, the European Union imposed a ban on PIA flights in 2007 and later restored it in 2009. In 2007, Pakistan stood at 3.7 points in the hazard safety index which dropped to the 0.67 points, resulting in the restoration of PIA flights.

A PIA spokesman while commenting on the matter had said that they were hopeful of addressing the concerns raised by the EASA after adopting a foolproof safety arrangement.