Baku, Azerbaijan, July 27
By Seba Aghayeva - Trend:
An air service is being opened between Azerbaijan and Pakistan, the ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistan, Dashgin Shikarov told Trend July 27.
Starting from August 12, Shikarov said, the aircraft of the Turkish Airlines will fly on the Islamabad-Baku-Istanbul route.
Under a tripartite agreement, the flights will take place twice a week - on Mondays and Fridays using the planes of the Turkish Airlines.
Tickets for the flight will be about $600-$650, and flight time will be about three hours.
The agreement to resume the air link was reached during the Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain's official visit to Azerbaijan in March this year.
"Mamnoon Hussain made this initiative at a meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev," said the ambassador. "Azerbaijan's president supported it."
He added that the issue of extending the current Istanbul-Islamabad flight to Baku was also discussed with Turkey's Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
"Opening of the flight will contribute to the development of the two countries' cooperation in the area of tourism," said Shikarov.
"Pakistan's people love Azerbaijan," the diplomat said further. "During the first European games the Pakistanis had an opportunity to even better get acquainted with our country via the programs and video clips broadcast on the local TV channels, and many have expressed a desire to visit Azerbaijan."
"Now they have got such an opportunity," he added.
Opening of the flight will also contribute to economic ties between the two countries, said the ambassador.
Over January-June 2015, the trade between Azerbaijan and Pakistan stood at $1,318,400, according to Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee (SCC).
Edited by SI
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