Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is the national flag carrier of Pakistan. At present the main hub of this carrier is located in Lahore with others in Karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad. Pakistan International Airlines was established by the government of Pakistan in 1951. In June 1954, Pakistan International Airlines celebrated its first flight with the Super Constellation which flew between Karachi and Dhaka. PIA’s first ever international service was conducted in February 1955 with service from Karachi to London via Cairo.
In the 2002 Pakistan International Airlines entered into a major contract with Boeing for the purchase of new several new aircraft. This was regarded as the biggest ever deal in the history of this airline. PIA entered into an agreement with ATR (Avions de Transport Regional) of France in November, 2005, to purchase seven ATR 42-500 turbo prop aircraft which would go on to replace PIA’s Fokker F-27s with the new 48-seater ATRs.
At present Pakistan International Airlines owns seven ATR 42-500, two Boeing 777-200LR, one Boeing 747-200B (SCD), four Boeing 777-200ER, three Boeing 777-300ER, five Boeing 747-300, six Boeing 737-300 and twelve Airbus A310-300. This fleet takes PIA passengers to over 60 destinations worldwide and even more thanks to code share agreements with several airlines, including AeroSvit, Thai Airlines, Turkish Airlines and China Southern Airlines.
