Haj flights from Sialkot during next season: PM SIALKOT, April 24 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani has announced that Haj flights from Sialkot Airport would start from the next Haj season. He was talking to a delegation of Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which called who called on him at the residence of Federal Minister for Population and Social Welfare Fardous Ashiq Awan at Chak Kubay on Friday.
The Prime Minister also announced a grant of Rs 250 million as a first instalment for improvement of infrastructure at the airport.
The delegation comprising traders and industrialists of Sialkot had demanded Rs 750 million for improvement of facilities at the airport which they have built on self help basis. Gilani said that the amount would be provided in three installments of Rs 250 million each.
About the demand for assistance for introducing solar energy project in Sialkot, the Prime Minister said he would direct the ministry of environment to provide every possible help in this regard.
The delegation informed the Prime Minister that they had also built roads of the city on self-help basis. They said Sialkot is an industrial city and was earning huge foreign exchange for the country.
Earlier on arrival, the Prime Minister was received at the airport by Governor Punjab Salman Taseer, Senior Punjab Minister Raja Riaz, Provincial Minister Tanveer Ashraf Kaira and district Nazim Sialkot Akmal Cheema.
I think that is excellent news for residents of Sialkot and surrounding areas, who would normally have to travel either to Islamabad or Lahore. Sialkot also houses some of PIA’s 747s and can therefore cater using the Jumbo.