960415

Exporters want

improved PIA

service to

Faisalabad

RECORDER REPORT

FAISALABAD: Poor service, inadequate maintenance and plying of sub-standard aircrafts on Faisalabad-Karachi sector by PIA is disenchanting the foreign buyers visiting Faisalabad for the purchase of textile goods.

This was observed by Abdul Hafeez Pasha, a leading exporter of All Pakistan Cloth Exporters Association here on Monday.

Talking to newsmen, Hafeez Pasha said that, some time back, PIA had started plying chartered Russian aeroplanes along with its crew on the Faisalabad-Karachi sector. Not only the air crafts are sub-standard, but the Russian crew engaged in the flights also did not know the traditions of hospitality and norms of Pakistan culture, and are thus causing lot of inconvenience among the Pakistani exporters of textile goods who frequently travel to Faisalabad.

He further stated that even the foreign buyers, who come to Faisalabad on these chartered flights, immediately change their plans, and instead of flying back to Karachi, proceed to Lahore and then fly back to Karachi. They expressed open resentment on the sub-standard flights on this important commercial sector of the country and vow not to come back until the flight standard improved.

Quoting instances, Pasha said that recently one of his buyers was very much annoyed when he landed at the Faisalabad airport. And, after cutting short his planned stay in the city he went to Lahore and from there he flew back to Karachi. While leaving the buyer said he would never come back to Faisalabad if that state of condition continue, Pasha said.

He said that Faisalabad was an important textile centre of the country from where 80 percent Pakistani textile exports originate. It was therefore ill-advised on the part of PIA, the national carrier, to ply sub-standard air crafts on this sector. If PIA had to make temporary chartered flight arrangements, due to contingencies of Haj flights or so it could have done so on other routes which were not commercially important, he said. Pasha urged upon the PIA authorities to immediately take cognizance of this lapse and shift the Russian aircrafts to other sectors and ply PIA's own planes on this important route.