TEHRAN -  Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has resumed direct flights to Iran’s Mashhad, after a five-year gap to develop people-to-people contacts, local media reported on Thursday.

The development took place following the serious efforts of the Iranian Embassy in Islamabad to facilitate air travel between the two neighboring countries and to boost the tourism industry.

Earlier this month, Chief Executive of PIA Air Marshal Arshad Malik during a meeting with Ambassador of Iran to Pakistan Mohammad Ali Hosseini had announced that the PIA is going to start direct flights from Lahore to Mashhad, Asian News International reported.

Ambassador Hosseini in a tweet had also revealed that Iran and Pakistan had agreed on increasing efforts to promote air cooperation between Iran and Pakistan. In this regard, PIA is going to begin direct flights from Karachi to Mashhad on Jan 1, 2022.

Iran Air operates one weekly flight from Tehran to Karachi and vice versa, and there are reports that Mahan Iran Airlines will resume flights from Tehran and Mashhad to Lahore.

Mashhad is Iran’s holiest and second-largest city. Its raison d’être is the striking shrine complex of the eighth Shia Imam (AS) that is encircled by dozens of five-star hotels and many other accommodation centers.

AFM