Shaheen Air re-emerges with new vision
KARACHI (April 05 2005): Pervaiz Ali Khan, Vice-Chairman of Shaheen Air (SA), has said that the airline has re-emerged with a new vision after its take-over by the new management, TAWA International Inc of Canada and its visibility is increasing in Pakistan and Gulf states. Speaking at the re-launch ceremony of Shaheen Air at a local hotel on Monday he said that after the re-launch, SA has acquired three modern Boeing 737s and an Airbus A-320.
He said that to facilitate the air travel at a reasonable price, SA has increased the domestic weekly flight frequency to 58 on Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar sectors and 37 international flights to UAE, Muscat, Qatar and Kuwait. It has also recently started four weekly flights to Quetta each from Karachi and Lahore to support President Pervez Musharraf's initiative to encourage economic activities in Balochistan, he added.
He said that the airline has also set up a cargo division to secure regional cargo market and later develop it for European and North American destinations from Pakistan, and SA also intends to offer attractive travel packages to encourage tourism in Pakistan.
Raheel Ahmed, Area Manager, said that SA has embarked at a journey of change at a time when the airline industry on the whole is going through a tough time, fuel prices are high and competition fierce.
He said that change in management has brought with it a change in vision, with ultimate change in commitment, in attitude and in service. He said that the new slogan of SA is: 'Change is in the Air'.
He said that the SA has provided extra leg space to its passengers even in its economy class by reducing the number of seats, thus providing maximum comfort to its customers.
Rafiq Khan, Chairman of Bukhari Group, expressed his gratitude for the revolutionary change of SA and committed to ensure continued support to SA.
Faooq Nasir, Manager, Public Relations, said that after the take-over by the new management SA is passing through a re-branding phase, livery of aircraft and the uniform of cabin crew all have been changed. SA is now extending e-ticketing service and launching business class from April 11, he added.
In a very short span of time, SA has a plan to increase domestic flight frequencies to 74 per week, he said, adding that an Islamabad-Quetta flight will start soon, while plans are afoot to introduce flights on the Karachi-Peshawar sector. He said SA also has the plan to induct more western aircraft to expand its operations to number of domestic and international destinations, in due course of time, he said.
Shaheen Air and its GSA Vision Travels celebrated the re-launch ceremony of the airline. A number of executives from corporate sector, airlines, travel agencies and media attended the ceremony.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2005