KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has hinted at lowering air freight rates for export of mangoes to Manchester, London and Frankfurt once the national carrier gets confirmed volume, frequency of flights and schedule spelled out.
PIA CEO Air Marshal (retd) Arshad Malik held a meeting at the airline’s head office with the delegation of Pakistan Fruits and Vegetable Exporters, Importers and Merchants (PFVA), led by its Patron-in-Chief Waheed Ahmed on Tuesday.
The national carrier would now quote a relatively lower air freight cost per kg to the mango export consignments compared to foreign players like Emirates and Qatar Airways, Malik assured.
He requested PFVA to submit him details about the confirmed export volume for various destinations, frequency of flights and schedule they desire and the PIA would work out the best possible air freight cost for each route.
Waheed Ahmed said this was a follow-up meeting as per directive of the special committee of the National Assembly on Agriculture.
The meeting also discussed that the national carrier does not have adequate pallets and containers, thereby posing problems to the mango exporters to carry on smooth export.
Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2020