Balochistan assembly objects to sharp airfare disparities on Quetta routes

BALOCHISTAN: Lawmakers in the Balochistan Assembly voiced deep frustration over what they called unprecedented and unfair spikes in airfares charged by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and private carriers on flights originating from Quetta.

Both treasury and opposition members unanimously passed a resolution urging immediate corrective measures against the national flag carrier and other airlines for imposing extraordinary fare increases, as reported by Dawn.

According to Dawn, the resolution, tabled by JUI-F legislator Shahida Rauf during a session chaired by Speaker Abdul Khaliq Achakzai, condemned the sudden price jump.

She revealed that one-way tickets from Quetta to Karachi had reached between Pakistani currency (PKR) 43,000 and PKR 60,000, while fares to Islamabad had soared past PKR 70,000.

In comparison, she noted, flights from Karachi to Lahore or Islamabad continued to cost between PKR15,000 and PKR 20,000. She termed this price gap “clear discrimination” against the people of Balochistan, adding that with frequent road closures and unreliable train services, air travel was the province’s only dependable mode of long-distance movement, now rendered largely inaccessible.

Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti supported the resolution, calling it crucial for the public’s ease. He stated that while lawmakers might manage such fares, ordinary citizens were being crushed by them.

He informed the House that he had already communicated with the prime minister and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on the issue, and invited parliamentary leaders to travel with him to Islamabad to push for intervention.

He warned that if airlines failed to revise fares, the provincial government would consider detaining officials of airlines operating in Quetta under Section 16 of the MPO, as highlighted by Dawn.

Several members, including Deputy Speaker Ghazala Gola, Education Minister Raheela Hameed Durrani, and BNP-Awami President Mir Asadullah Baloch, demanded that private airlines be compelled to resume operations from Quetta and that fares be standardised nationwide.

ANP’s Zamarak Khan Achakzai said the discriminatory attitude toward Balochistan was longstanding and urged legal action if rates were not regulated. Adviser Meena Majeed Baloch told the House she had paid PKR 80,000 for a one-way Islamabad-Quetta ticket, calling the situation intolerable, as reported by Dawn. (ANI)