Fares for international travel for students and other passengers travelling from Pakistan to China have been drastically reduced by the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The fares for students with taxes will be around PKR 248,000 while the fare for other passengers of the same category will be around RMB 10,000, according to the information received by WealthPK. 

The package was offered last month by the PIA to facilitate students who moved between China and Pakistan for academic purposes. A discount of 10%-15% and a 7% discount on surcharge were offered to students who were travelling to China.  PIA, as of now, is operating two weekly flights on Islamabad-Chengdu-Islamabad and Islamabad-Xi’an-Beijing-Islamabad air routes.   This scheme will help a lot of students who are currently studying in China and other people who travel between the two countries often.

A large number of Pakistani students enrolled in Chinese universities could not return to China following Covid-19 travel restrictions. They are planning to come back to China to join offline classes as the Chinese authorities have allowed them to return.  In June, a special flight of the PIA was arranged to take the students back to Xi’an in China who got stuck here because of Covid travel restrictions. Students who gave their comments for the news said that they were extremely happy to have been offered these services by the PIA.

They said that the financial strain on a large number of students will be eased and they will be able to concentrate fully on their studies. Students will also be able to travel back to China where they will engage in in-person classes as online education system is not that effective as of yet.  Abdul Karim, a Pakistani living in the Chinese capital, also expressed his happiness over the discount offered by PIA on its fare for travellers between Pakistan and China. He said that people will “now people be able to travel frequently between the two countries.”

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk