Second weekly Karachi-Mashhad flight begins, promoting Iran’s religious tourism hub
A new weekly direct flight between Pakistan’s commercial hub Karachi and Iran’s religious tourism center Mashhad began operating on Monday, increasing direct air links between the two countries, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported.
A Kish Air MD-80 carrying 140 passengers from Mashhad arrived at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport on Monday morning and returned to Mashhad with the same number of passengers later in the day.
The service will operate every Monday between Mashhad and Karachi, bringing the number of weekly direct passenger flights between the two cities to two.
Mashhad, home to the shrine of Imam Reza (PBUH), is a major destination for religious tourism in Iran and attracts visitors from Pakistan and other countries.
Iranian airline Taban has also operated a weekly passenger service between Tehran and Karachi in recent years.
A ceremony marking the launch of the new service was held at Jinnah International Airport in the presence of Pakistani aviation officials and a representative of Iran’s consulate general in Karachi.
Karachi, the most populous city in Pakistan and the capital of Sindh province, is a major commercial center and has longstanding trade, cultural and people-to-people ties with Iran.
The new service comes after direct air links between Iran and Pakistan expanded last year. Iranian airlines Mahan Air and Iran Airtour formally launched direct flights between Tehran and Islamabad.
During Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s first official visit to Pakistan in August last year, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at expanding transport cooperation, including direct air links between the two countries.