Pakistan International

The airline was founded on 23 October 1946 as Orient Airways. It was formerly centred in Calcutta before the Partition of British India. Orient Airways was nationalized on 10 January 1955 and renamed as Pakistan International Airlines. In 1955, PIA’s first international flight was en route to London, via Cairo and Rome. It was the first Asian airline to fly the Lockheed Super Constellation. More recently, it was the launch customer of the Boeing 777. The airline also owns The Roosevelt Hotel and Sofitel Paris Scribe Hotel.As of 2016, PIA is going through a procedure of privatization to shift management to the private sector. PIA operates scheduled services to 22 domestic destinations and 28 international destinations across Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America. It operates nearly 100 flights daily.In 1961, the airline announced its first trans-Atlantic course from Karachi to New York via London. In 1962, it expanded its fleet by placing orders for Boeing 720s, Fokker F27 Friendships, and Sikorsky helicopters. Also in 1962, a PIA Boeing 720B from London to Karachi established a world record for speed over a commercial airline flying with a speed of 938.78 km/h, a record which still holds to this day. When diplomatic ties between Pakistan and the People’s Republic of China were established, PIA started flying to Beijing in 1964, became the first airline of a non-communist country to fly to China. In 192, PIA introduced a new international route to Tripoli, with the establishment of cordial ties between the Libyan and Pakistani governments.The latter half of the decade witnessed further expansion of PIA’s fleet with the introduction of Boeing 747s through either leased or purchased aircraft. During the 1980s PIA was regarded as Asia’s best airline. The Somali Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Air Malta and Yemenia are just a handful of airlines that benefited from PIA providing technical and administrative assistance as well as by leasing different aircraft to these foreign airline companies.