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Shaheen Air International is a Pakistani private airline based in Karachi. It operates scheduled services in the main cities of Pakistan and to the Persian Gulf countries. Its main base is Jinnah International Airport (KHI), Karachi, with a hub at Benazir Bhutto International Airport (ISB), Islamabad.
[edit] History
 The airline was established and started operations in December 1993. It was formed as a project of the Shaheen Foundation, that is named after the Peregrine falcon within the Pakistan Air Force. In October 1994 it was designated as the second national carrier of Pakistan and in February 1995 began international operations, with a scheduled service between Peshawar and Dubai. When the airline started it operated a fleet of leased Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft on most of its domestic flights. Shaheen Air International (SAI) was given the status of being the "second national airline of Pakistan" during the first couple of years of operation, however this status is no longer recognised. In July 2004, the airline management was changed when it was taken over by TAWA International Inc. of Canada. The new chairman of Shaheen Air, Khalid M Sehbai has made a foreign direct investment in Shaheen Air with the objective of taking the airline back to its successful past. During November 2004, the airline inducted its first Boeing 737-200 Advanced for its main route of Karachi-Lahore-Karachi, that arrived at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi and phasing out of its Soviet aircraft. During 2005, the cargo division of the airline also grew when it signed an accord with the Pakistan Post and British Airways Cargo. For cargo use, Shaheen Air Cargo acquired IL-76 aircraft. The aircraft will be used on Dubai - Karachi routes[citation needed]. The initial two flights on January 3 and 5 carried about 100 metric tonnes export cargo that was delivered at Dubai for onward transportation to Europe and USA by British Airways flights[citation needed]. In 2006, Shaheen Air International (SAI) became Shaheen Air and the airline introduced a new livery and website. The airline also introduced flights to Quetta - Karachi. The Governor of Balochistan said that the improvement of air links was also discussed in the ongoing talks between Pakistan and Iran and he has offered the management of Shaheen Air to operate Quetta - Zahidan sector flights. He said that initially SAI is operating with eight flight schedules on Karachi-Quetta route and Quetta - Lahore route. He announced that SAI would also operate flight between Islamabad and Quetta later on[citation needed]. On May 22, 2006 the Civil Aviation Authority stopped all flights of Shaheen Air as it owed millions of rupees to the CAA. On May 25, 2006 Shaheen Air International (SAI) was cleared by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to resume its domestic and international operations. The clearance letter was issued by CAA following receipt of the cheque from SAI towards payment of the outstanding dues. On September 18, 2006, it was announced [1] that Shaheen Air was to start a four times weekly service from Islamabad to Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield in the UK. However, no flights were ever launched. On October 2007, Shaheen Air International announced at the World Travel Market in London that they would be commencing flights from Islamabad to London Luton Airport. On February 7, 2008, their second UK destination Leeds Bradford Airport flights were launched. On November 2007, Shaheen Air International acquired 2 Airbus A310-300 aircraft for the long-haul routes to the UK leased from Turkish company, Saga Airlines. The first delivered long haul A310-300 (TC-SGC) has an all-white colour scheme with large Shaheen Air titles on both side of the fuselage. The aircraft flies twice weekly on both the new Islamabad - Lahore - Kuwait route. The twice weekly service to Leeds Bradford Airport has now been discontinued. Pakistan International Airlines now fly between Islamabad and Leeds Bradford 3 times a week. [edit] OverviewShaheen Air International is a private airline that provides passenger, cargo, and charter services. It serves the major cities of Pakistan and Persian Gulf. It was established in December 1993 and on October 25, 1994, it was accorded the status of 'Second National Carrier of Pakistan', by the Government of Pakistan. At present[when?], the airline is equipped with a fleet of seven self-owned Boeing 737 aircraft. Besides serving major domestic routes i.e Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar, Shaheen Air has also been operating flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Kuwait, Doha and Muscat from almost all the major international gateways of Pakistan. [edit] Suspension of UK operationsShaheen ceased operating to Leeds Bradford Airport in England from 1 June 2008 no reason was given. They have not announced any resumption plans nor addition of planned new destinations (Birmingham, Glasgow, Luton and Stansted). The airline also failed to introduce the second A310 into service, while TC-SGC was returned to its owners. Pakistan International Airlines have taken over the Leeds to Pakistan route, although they fly to Islamabad. Plus the airline is also going to re-start flights from Stansted to Karachi in the summer. [edit] Services
[edit] DestinationsShaheen Air International operates the following services (at June 2009): [edit] Terminated destinations[edit] CargoShaheen Air Cargo is a division of Shaheen Air International that was established in 1993, soon after the inception of the airline. [edit] Courier ServicesShaheen Air provides special services for sending small consignments which are time sensitive in nature. [edit] FleetThe Shaheen Air International fleet includes the following aircraft (as of March 2009) [4]:
[edit] Notes[edit] References
[edit] External links
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