Airlines pull out of Peshawar after attack
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Two airlines have suspended their operations to Peshawar Airport following the attack on a passenger aircraft last week.
Emirates took the immediate decision to pull out of Peshawar after last week’s terrorist attack, which killed one passenger and left two crew members injured. And now Saudi Arabian Airlines has also suspended its services to the Pakistani hub.
A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft carrying 178 people from the Saudi capital Riyadh came under fire as it landed at Peshawar’s Bacha Khan International Airport on Tuesday night. Reports suggest that the shots were fired from outside the airport while the aircraft was still 100 metres above the ground.
Police told reporters that the aircraft was hit by six bullets. As well as the fatal shot, two crew members were hit, while of the bullets narrow missed the pilot. The aircraft’s engine was also struck, according to reports.
The incident, which is believed to have been the work of the Pakistani Taliban, comes just two weeks after an attack on Karachi Airport left 29 people dead. Following this incident, the Pakistani Army launched a major offensive against militants in the northwest of the country, close to Peshawar.
The Taliban also killed four people in a rocket attack at the airport in December 2012, but the attack on a commercial passenger aircraft is believed to be the first of its kind.
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s attack, Etihad and Qatar Airways also cancelled some flights to Peshawar, but these are now back on schedule. UAE-based low-cost carrier Air Arabia is also continuing with flights to the city. Saudi Arabia’s other major airline, flynas, pulled out of Pakistan last year.
Last week, Cathay Pacific announced that it will suspend all flights to Karachi at the end of June.
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