Pakistan's AirBlue to add A321neo ch-aviation PRO exclusive

Air Sial (SIF, Karachi Int'l) is planning to launch flight operations in June this year, according to a report in the Khaleej Times newspaper.

Having signed up for three used A320-200s from AerCap in late December, the carrier is hoping to become Pakistan's third privately-owned airline, joining AirBlue (PA, Karachi Int'l) and Serene Air (ER, Islamabad Quaid-e-Azam Int'l), although fellow private sector start-up K2 Airways (KTA, Karachi Int'l) is also vying for that accolade, as it also plans to start flights in 2020.

Owned by Sialkot-based businessmen, Air Sial plans to connect its Punjabi base to domestic points such as Karachi Int'l, Islamabad Quaid-e-Azam Int'l and Lahore Int'l, initially with a low-frequency service, an airline executive told the newspaper. Once these operations are established, it plans to add connections to Peshawar and Quetta, as well as extra frequencies on the first three routes, if demand warrants the capacity increase.

The airline executive also suggested that international services to the Middle East could start...