PIA to discontinue flights to US from Oct. 31

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will be discontinuing flights to the United States from October 31.

The decision has been taken due to the heavy losses incurred by the country's flagship carrier that were estimated to be over Rs 1.25 billion annually due to its flight operations to the US, Geo TV reported.

The airline is no longer booking US flights through its reservation system after October 31.

PIA had been operating flights to the US since 1961 without any disruption. A total of five weekly flights to New York and three other US cities were being operated.

Direct US flights were beneficial to some politicians holding dual citizenship, top government officials, media reports said.

PIA, after stopping direct flights to the US, will enter into a code-sharing agreement with an American airline. US-bound passengers will be flown to London, where they will then be transferred to the American airline which will take them to the US, the media reported quoting sources.