Manchester gets Pakistani service

Pakistani private airline Airblue began to offer flights between Islamabad and Manchester last week (June 1st), according to reports.

Initially, the airline will operate four weekly return flights between the countries but this is expected to increase to five a week at the end of June.

Flights are due to depart from Manchester at 21:00 and arrive in the Pakistani capital at 10:30 local time the following morning. Return flights will leave Islamabad at 14:00 local time and arrive back in the UK at 19:30.

At a recent dinner, the lord mayor of Manchester, Mr Glynn Evans, said that the new service would strengthen ties between the two countries and help the Pakistani population living in the city.

Airblue's chief operating officer, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, also pointed out that the response from the Manchester's Pakistani community to new service was so strong that he expected the extra flights to perform well when launched later in the month.

The airline currently operates a number of flights within Pakistan, as well as services to Middle Eastern destinations such as Dubai.