The evolution of tourism in Pakistan on April 11, 2019Iam a Banda-e-Sahrai from Cholistan Desert, land of the lost river Sarasvati. We, the people of Cholistan still believe that our lost river shall, one day, return back to our land as it did during the heavy monsoons of 1976. I have worked for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), in Spain and Egypt, the two countries […]
When PIA promoted Pakistani cuisine and culture at foreign countries on November 17, 2018By the end of 1982, most of the middle management, senior management and top management of aviation technocrats had left PIA. Major General Rahim Khan replaced Mr. Enver Jamall as Chairman, and Air Vice Marshal Waqar Azeem replaced Mufti Muhammad Salim as the Managing Director. Air Commodore M. Salim, a close relative of General Zia’s, […]
When Air Marshal Nur Khan and his vision took PIA to new heights on October 11, 2018Air Marshal Nur Khan, the hero of 1965 war. In 1978, Pakistan International Airways (PIA) Investment Limited, a brain child of Air Marshal Nur Khan, was created and the airline seriously moved into the hospitality sector. PIA already owned and managed a chain of hotels in Pakistan: Mid Way House and Airport Inn at Karachi […]
When the national flag carrier had offices in all prime locations of the world on October 3, 2018Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had the distinction of having offices at prime locations everywhere in the world: Fifth Avenue in New York, Piccadilly in London, Champs-Elysees in Paris, opposite Central Railway Station in Frankfurt, Liazd Street near Dam Square in Amsterdam, Vester Formasgade in central Copenhagen, Qasr-e-Nile near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Surawongs Road in […]
How PIA recovered after we lost half of the country on September 19, 2018Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto moved into power on a fast track to become the fourth President of Pakistan on 21st December, 1971. Bhutto, like Imran Khan, had a colossal task ahead of him to rebuild Pakistan. He, too, like Khan, had a novice team with him to steer the country but through sheer personal hard work […]
When former US first lady Jackie Kennedy endorsed PIA on September 13, 2018Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), an aggressively progressive airline of 60s and the70s, was once ranked amongst the top five in global aviation. The man responsible for this phenomenal achievement was none other than Air Commodore Malik Nur Khan, managing director of the then, young airline, from 1959 to 1965. No wonder in 1962, Jacqueline Kennedy, […]
Visiting America’s Latino hub on September 7, 2018After an arduous 26-hour journey on Turkish Airlines, I arrived in sunny Miami. A short 25-minute taxi ride brought me to my son, Taimur’s, beach-side apartment at the Deco Plage Condominium, overlooking the white sands and blue inviting waters of South Beach. Fuelled by the adrenaline that the Miami air has a tendency to naturally […]