PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International) terminated its sole international service out of Rahim Yar Khan to Abu Dhabi International in February, leaving the Pakistani airport with exclusively domestic routes, The Dawn has reported. The cancellation was reportedly caused by a mixture of lack of fueling facilities at Rahim Yar Khan and a shortage of aircraft in the carrier's fleet.
The flights between the airport in central Pakistan and the UAE gateway used to be operated 2x weekly with an A320-200 aircraft and are set to resume once PIA solves fleet shortage issues, the carrier has said.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, out of a total of thirty-six aircraft in the Pakistani flag carrier's fleet, two ATR42-500s and one B777-300(ER) are currently undergoing maintenance, while a further B777-200(ER) is stored, leaving the carrier with only thirty-two active units, eleven of them narrowbody jets.
PIA is expecting an imminent delivery of six used A320-200s and two A319-100s.
The carrier's operational issues at Rahim Yar Khan was related to the lack of fueling facilities at the airport, which caused payload restrictions for the airline.
PIA continues to operate domestic flights out of Rahim Yar Khan to each of Islamabad International (7x weekly), Karachi International (7x weekly), and Lahore International (2x weekly). The Pakistani flag carrier is the sole operator at the airport.
