PIA will be restarting ORD starting June 1 I believe. No Manchester stop over this time around. Manchester has been replaced with Barcelona.
Lahore-Barcelona-Chicago
Chicago-Barcelona-Lahore
I wonder if it’ll stick this time around. PIA is in dire need of maximum equipment utilization effectively. It should partner with AA/UA and expand US-Wide. Just my opinion…
Re: PIA restarting Chicago
Good to know.
Re: PIA restarting Chicago
awesome news
Re: PIA restarting Chicago
Will barcelona be as strict as Manchestar?
Bari beizzatti kharab hoti thi manchestar men.. 
Yeah, It’ll be interesting to see the deboarding procedure at Barcelona.
Re: PIA restarting Chicago
Today is the first PIA flight on Wednesdays to Islamabad/ Karachi via Barcelona
Re: PIA restarting Chicago
But isnt Spain one of those countries which requires a "transit' visa for Pakistanis.
It should partner with AA/UA and expand US-Wide. Just my opinion...
United already has code sharing agreements for daily flights into multiple cities in Pakistan via Doha on Qatar Airways. Why would they care to connect to PIA's 2 weekly flights?
The only way I could see that being worthwhile is if PIA establishes a European hub with daily nonstop service to Karachi and Lahore (and possibly less frequent nonstop flights to secondary cities like Islamabad and Faisalabad), and codeshare on AA/UA feeder flights from across the US to the European hub.
As it stands, with 2-3x weekly flights to a string of Pakistani destinations, there's really no reason to chose PIA over any of the Middle Eastern carriers.
Re: PIA restarting Chicago
it may make unscheduled stops at gitmo on the way though :)
Re: PIA restarting Chicago
Hopefully not..
Though a serious concern, with Etihad already in town, can PIA survive the Middle Eastern giant? Wasn’t Emirates rumored to be starting Chicago in the near future as well. (On that same note: Emirates has ordered additional 30+ A380s, could possibly see it being utilize to extend service as well as increase in already existing frequencies around the globe.)
Re: PIA restarting Chicago
teggy, good point. Given the choice between PIA, Etihad and Emirates what will people pic lets say if the price difference is a 100 bucks or so?
would PIA play the economy card, loyalty/patriotism card,..or would they compete on quality?
Re: PIA restarting Chicago
I'm not too sure about your cost conscious (and we all know most Pakistanis are) travelers choosing PIA for the sake of tail flag alone. PIA would have to offer ultra low fares and/or other perks. There will be those who want to contribute to national carrier, but that might be every 2 out of 10 considering that both airlines make one stop. If PIA was doing a nonstop, that could have been lucrative for most who just want to get there ASAP.
If PIA could manage to do non-stop...?
United already has code sharing agreements for daily flights into multiple cities in Pakistan via Doha on Qatar Airways. Why would they care to connect to PIA's 2 weekly flights?
The only way I could see that being worthwhile is if PIA establishes a European hub with daily nonstop service to Karachi and Lahore (and possibly less frequent nonstop flights to secondary cities like Islamabad and Faisalabad), and codeshare on AA/UA feeder flights from across the US to the European hub.
As it stands, with 2-3x weekly flights to a string of Pakistani destinations, there's really no reason to chose PIA over any of the Middle Eastern carriers.
I think European/Pakistan frequencies are already more frequent than those to U.S.
I could be wrong though.