Air Sial, Pakistan’s New Startup Airline Rolls Out Its First Airbus Plane

source: Simple Flying

There’s no doubt the aviation industry is grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic, but for one airline startup in Pakistan, it’s a good day to fly.

It was a long journey for Air Sial’s first of three Airbus A320-200s delivered from Phoenix Goodyear Airport in Arizona, USA to its home base in Karachi, Pakistan.

The A320s range limitations mean the aircraft’s ferry flight had to make stops at airports in New Hampshire, Northern Ireland and Egypt before its final stop.

Sialkot, Pakistan. source: Trekking in Pakistan

Air Sial is a fairly new privately-owned company that was announced in 2018, and the A320s is its very first aircraft. This delivery is a huge step for the company towards starting operations.

Like its name, Air Sial’s HQ is based in Sialkot, Pakistan but the jets will be based in Karachi. It was launched to improve air travel to and from the Sialkot region, a major industrial city.

Flights will begin with routes between cities in Pakistan namely Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, but the airline has plans to launch international routes, considering countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Malaysia.

Guess “KL to Sialkot” might be something we’ll hear on the speakers at KLIA in the future.