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By Chandani Jayatilleke

Direct air links between Sri Lanka and Pakistan have been a major hiccup in promoting trade and investment between the two countries. Therefore, the authorities should seriously consider resuming flights to Pakistan, the representatives of business community said.

The two countries are to finalise a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which is aimed at increasing trade volumes and investment opportunities. The FTA which was scheduled to be signed earlier was held up due to political instability in Pakistan. With the forming of a new Government in Pakistan last week, the agreement is expected to be signed at the earliest.

"But how could we gain the benefits of such an agreement when there are no direct air links to transport goods and passengers in two destinations," they asked.

SriLankan Airlines used to fly to Karachi several times a week before the LTTE attack on the Katunayake International Airport last year. However, SriLankan was forced to terminate flights as the airline lost a number of flights during the attack.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) also terminated flights to Colombo following rising political tensions with India. According to the present system, the passengers at two ends have to fly via Dubai, which is time-consuming and extremely inconvenient. "It takes over 18 hours to get to Colombo from Pakistan or vice-versa. If we had direct flights, it would only have taken three and half hours in travelling," they said.

Pakistan's High Commissioner in Colombo, Ashraf Qureshi said that Pakistan is looking forward to seeing the resumption of flights between Colombo and Karachi.

"The absence of flights has been a major hindrance to increase trade activities between Sri Lanka and Pakistan," he said. The Government of Sri Lanka has asked Pakistan to resume Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights. The High Commissioner said that Pakistan International Airlines is interested in resuming flights to Colombo. "Talks are going on in this connection," he said.

He said that Pakistan anticipated that SriLankan Airlines restarted flights sooner. "Even if one flight can be operated, it will be a big benefit to the business community," he said.

Earlier, young Pakistani couples used to come to Sri Lanka to spend their honeymoon and Sri Lanka was an attractive destination for them. But, now it is not the same. Promoting tourism has been a Herculean task in the absence of direct flights."

Apart from passenger travel, there have been many cargo flights operating between the two destinations. "Pakistan imports betel, tea, rubber and coconut products from Sri Lanka in a big way." A SriLankan Airlines official said that Pakistan flights are not on the cards right now. "The Airline is considering operating flights to Italy and Cochin (in India) next year," he said.

Director-General, Department of Civil Aviation, H.M.C.Nimalsiri said that as far as bilateral talks are concerned, there is no issue. "It is up to the two airlines to decide on resuming flights," he said.

Trade between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in 2001

Exports from Sri Lanka - US$ 45 million

Imports from Pakistan - US$ 75 million

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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