as a pakistani and as a sialkoti, its such a proud moment. I have seen my city developed without any government aid. I remember one of the industrialist once said that rename “sialkot” to “saga city” and he will make it the paris, he could have.
All the roads in sialkot are made by private sector funding, the airport (Which i believe is the largest private airport in asia) is made by industrialists and now they are launching their own airlines. Feels so good
All power to them, in the past they launched their airport as well. Maybe an example for others as well who keep on looking at the government to provide facilities.
Saga city is the name of the company headquarters. I believe his demand was to be made the mayor for life, and he would transform the city. Sadly enough, he couldnt even transform his own company. His wife pretty much drove it into the ground after his death.
In any case, its a proud moment for Sialkotis. Considering the fact that the airport land was allocated back in the 80s by Gen Zia, its a shame none of the subsequent democratic govts allowed the airport to be built, nor to let a connecting highway be built to Lahore, which is why the local chamber decided to take matters into its own hands. PPP and PMLN protected their vested interests with the cargo mafia, but hard work of the local industrialists paid off. Now when you drive around the city, virtually every good thing is either built by the army, or by the industrialists…whether its the ring road, or airport, and now their own airline.
^ the roads in the city are built by the industrialists themselves? I remember visiting Sialkot maybe 10-12 years back, disregarding the revenue the city used to generate the roads and infrastructure of the city was in shambles.
^ the roads in the city are built by the industrialists themselves? I remember visiting Sialkot maybe 10-12 years back, disregarding the revenue the city used to generate the roads and infrastructure of the city was in shambles.
Circular road, equivalent of ring road Lahore, was widened and built by private funds. Most of the main arteries, Kashmir Road, Defence Road etc, were joint ventures of the NLC and chamber. Even the compensation paid to those displaced by construction was partly funded by the chamber of commerce.
Infrastructure still needs lots of improvement, but considering the fact that the govt does squat for the city, its still amazing.
would this be a regional, domestic or international airline? can we expect some competion to Emirates and/or Etihad airlines along with PIA?
I believe initially the priority would be cargo shipments, as was the case when the airport was first built. And it would graduate slowly into passenger traffic. And for cargo shipments, it would naturally be an international airline, and would certainly beat all others, on account of the fact that exporters will get priority rates on it.
International, with a focus on where these people do business
thanx :)
I believe initially the priority would be cargo shipments, as was the case when the airport was first built. And it would graduate slowly into passenger traffic. And for cargo shipments, it would naturally be an international airline, and would certainly beat all others, on account of the fact that exporters will get priority rates on it.
i see...i read somewhere that it would be launched within two weeks. let's see. it's not gonna take too long to find out exactly what the airline would be all about.
i see...i read somewhere that it would be launched within two weeks. let's see. it's not gonna take too long to find out exactly what the airline would be all about.
The airline as a company will be launched in a couple of weeks...but the airline itself will be operational sometime next year.