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Pakistan International Airlines is the national airline of Pakistan. It operates passenger and cargo services across the world. The main hubs of Pakistan International Airlines are Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, the Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore and the Islamabad International Airport.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) can trace its origins to the time when Pakistan was still not born. In 1946, Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan realized the need for an airline network for the incipient nation and instructed Mr. M.A. Ispahani, a leading industrialist, to set up a national airline, on priority basis. The new airline was registered in Calcutta as Orient Airways Ltd., on October 23, 1946. Orient Airways purchased four Douglas DC-3s and started operations on June 4, 1947 with a flight on Calcutta-Akyab-Rangoon route. After the partition and subsequent birth of Pakistan, the PIA shifted its base from Calcutta to Pakistan. Gradually Orient airways expanded its fleet and by the end of 1949 it had acquired 10 DC-3s and 3 Convair 240s. In 1955, the Pakistan Government decided to form a state-owned airline and merged Orient Airways with it. Thus, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was born on March 11, 1955.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has several firsts to its credit. It is the first Asian airline to operate a pure jet aircraft; first non-communist airline to fly to the People’s Republic of China; first airline in Asia to induct Boeing 737-300 aircraft in its fleet; first airline in the world to operate scheduled helicopter services; first airline in the world to fly to Tashkent; and the first airline in the world to start Air Safari with Jet Aircraft.
Presently, PIA flies to 70 destinations around the world. In India, Pakistan International Airlines flies to Delhi and Mumbai.