ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first low-cost air carrier is all set to begin domestic flight operations from next month, said its management in a social media post on Sunday, after securing Air Operator Certificate and Operating License earlier this month.
Fly Jinnah, a joint venture between Pakistan’s Lakson Group and the United Arab Emirates-based Air Arabia, was launched in September last year to provide people low-cost air travel options on domestic and international routes.
Soon after the announcement, Pakistan’s aviation experts said the country’s first budget airline was likely to take off in the next 18 months.
“Starting 1st November, fly from Karachi to Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta from just PKR 13,999 one way,” the airline announced on Twitter. “Enjoy more value at every mile with free inflight entertainment and 10kg hand baggage allowance.”
Starting 1st November, fly from Karachi to Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta from just PKR 13,999 one way. Enjoy more value at every mile with free inflight entertainment and 10kg hand baggage allowance.
Fly Jinnah has uniformly priced its one-way introductory airfare at Rs13,999 ($64) for its flights from Karachi to Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and Islamabad. It also announced in another social media post that it would continue to expand and serve more destinations soon.
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan met the chairman of Air Arabia, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al-Thani, last year and welcomed his decision to invest in the country.
Al-Thani said his company was confident that Fly Jinnah would add value to Pakistan’s air transport sector and directly contribute to the local economy through job creation and development of travel and tourism sector.
Fly Jinnah will join three other private airlines, AirBlue, SereneAir and AirSial, which are currently operating in the country. However, its management plans to serve a different niche which is expected to change the overall market dynamics in Pakistan’s air travel industry.
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has reduced the price of petrol and high-speed diesel by Rs2 per liter each for the next fortnight, state media reported on Thursday.
Fuel prices in Pakistan are reviewed and adjusted on a fortnightly basis. This mechanism ensures that changes in import costs are reflected in consumer prices, helping to sustain the country’s fuel supply chain.
The latest price reductions were undertaken due to the fluctuations in global oil prices. After the latest revision, a liter of petrol will now cost Rs252.63 while high-speed diesel will be sold at Rs256.64 per liter, according to a notification from the Ministry of Finance.
“The government has reduced prices of petroleum products for next fortnight,” Radio Pakistan said. “New prices are effective from today (Thursday).”
Petrol is primarily used in Pakistan for private transportation, including small vehicles, rickshaws and two-wheelers. Diesel, on the other hand, powers heavy vehicles used for transporting goods across the country.
Pakistan significantly increased fuel prices after securing a short-term, $3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2023. The rising rates also led to spiraling inflation in the country, though the government started offering relief to the people by gradually bringing down the petroleum prices subsequently.
Since then the government has undertaken financial reforms and registered some economic gains in its quest to ensure Pakistan achieves sustainable economic growth.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday reaffirmed his government’s commitment to ensure safe and dignified working conditions for laborers in Pakistan, as the world marks May Day to recognize the struggles of low-income workers.
Labor Day, observed on May 1, is a global celebration of workers’ rights and the labor movement. It honors the struggles and achievements of workers in securing fair wages, safe working conditions and dignity in the workplace. In many countries, including Pakistan, it serves as a reminder of the importance of social justice and the ongoing need to protect labor rights in the face of economic and social challenges.
Labor laws are rarely implemented in Pakistan, where laborers often work in dangerous and exploitative conditions at construction sites, mines and factories. In most instances in Pakistan, especially in the informal jobs sector, laborers are hired below the minimum wage set by the government and not provided proper safety equipment.
“Today, as the nation observes Labor Day, Pakistan reaffirms its unwavering commitment to promoting safe, healthy and dignified conditions for its workers — the real driving force behind our nation’s growth and resilience,” Sharif said in a message shared by his office.
“The protection of fundamental labor rights is enshrined in our Constitution and fully aligns with the International Labour Organization’s core conventions.”
Sharif noted Pakistan had undertaken legislative and administrative reforms in recent years to strengthen the protection of workers. He said the government took steps to broaden the coverage of the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) and the Workers Welfare Fund.
Pakistan’s labor class has suffered immensely as the South Asian country desperately tries to escape a prolonged economic crisis. Inflation reached a record high of 38 percent in 2023 as Islamabad scrapped fuel and food subsidies to comply with the International Monetary Fund’s demands for a financial bailout package.
KARACHI: When Muhammad Imran arrived in neighboring India last month, he thought the journey would culminate in his son recovering from an unfortunate spinal injury. Little did he know that he would be forced to head back to Pakistan. That too, without his wife.
Imran, 43, traveled to India with his wife Nabeela Imran, an Indian national, and children in March clinging to the hope that doctors at New Delhi’s Apollo Hospital would help his 17-year-old son Muhammad Ayan walk again. Ayan was left paralyzed in 2023 after he suffered a gunshot wound in his spine after getting in the crosshairs of a gunfight between police and street criminals in Karachi.
However, ties between India and Pakistan deteriorated after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for being involved in a militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on Apr. 22 that killed 26 people. Islamabad denies involvement.
Both nations downgraded ties, with India suspending visas for almost all Pakistani nationals and Islamabad responding with tit-for-tat measures. The move triggered panic among visiting families — including Imran’s, who had married his maternal cousin Nabeela, a resident of New Delhi, 18 years ago.
Since then, Nabeela had been living in Pakistan on a visa that was intermittently renewed without her ever needing to acquire Pakistan’s nationality. But the suspension of visas meant Imran and his Pakistani children’s 45-day medical visa was no longer valid, and Nabeela was left behind in India.
“She was separated from us while crying and we also came here with great difficulty, crying,” an emotional Ayan told Arab News.
Imran said he arrived in India after spending “every single rupee” with the hope that his son would walk again. However, bilateral tensions between India and Pakistan, and the ensuing atmosphere in India made his family “very scared.”
Pakistani citizen Muhammad Ayan cries, as his mother, who is an Indian citizen couldn’t accompany him and his father, as they prepare to leave India after India revoked visas issued to Pakistani citizens, at the Attari-Wagah border crossing near Amritsar, India on April 27, 2025. (REUTERS)
“I told them, ‘I am married [to her],’ I pleaded with them, cried, and showed a lot of humility,” Imran said about his interaction with Indian authorities. “But they said, ‘No, write an exit and leave.’“ ‘PEOPLE SHOULDN’T BE DIVIDED BY BORDERS’
For Ayan, the shock of being separated from his mother compounded the trauma of his paralysis and incomplete treatment.
“I went for treatment with a hope but that hope shattered because of that accident and then the fact that my mother was not coming with us,” he said.
“I was completely separated from a mother’s love. We were far apart; it made me cry.”
The ordeal is also tough for Imran, who is the sole caregiver to Ayan now that Nabeela is in India.
“Should I go to work or take care of my child,” Imran asked. “Because his mother used to handle everything — feeding him, taking care of him, and everything else.
“Now that she’s not here, I am facing a lot of distress,” he added.
Back in India, Nabeela is consumed by the same worry for her son.
“Over there, my child is paralyzed and in distress, and I am the one who takes care of everything for him,” she told Arab News via a video call.
“Now, his father will be going to work— who will take care of him? Who will look after him?“
Nabeela appealed to governments in India and Pakistan to reunite her with her children.
“I am in a lot of distress; I cannot live without my children,” she said. “My child is helpless, what should I do?“
Robbed of his mother’s affection, Ayan had the same plea.
“I appeal to both the Pakistani and Indian governments to reunite me with my mother as soon as possible,” he said.
“And I also appeal to the Pakistani government to help me with my treatment,” he added. “Please reunite me with my mother.”
Imran recalled how he saw with his own eyes when many families were separated from their loved ones and sent to the border.
“Borders may exist but people shouldn’t be divided by them,” he said.
ISLAMABAD: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week spoke to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, urging his administration to cooperate in investigating an Apr. 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir and to re-establish direct communications with New Delhi amid soaring bilateral tensions.
Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif last week said Islamabad is willing to cooperate with “any investigation which is conducted by international inspectors” of the Apr. 22 attack in Pahalgam, a popular tourist resort in Indian-administered Kashmir, in which 26 tourists were killed.
India has said there were Pakistani elements to the attack but Islamabad has denied any involvement. Fears of a wider conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors breaking out loom as India has vowed to punish the backers of the Kashmir attack. Pakistan, on the other hand, has vowed a “strong” response to any military strike.
Rubio spoke to PM Sharif on Wednesday, urging the need to condemn the Pahalgam attack, the US State Department said the same day.
“The Secretary urged Pakistani officials’ cooperation in investigating this unconscionable attack,” the State Department said. “He also encouraged Pakistan to work with India to de-escalate tensions, re-establish direct communications, and maintain peace and security in South Asia.”
It added that both leaders reaffirmed their continued commitment to “holding terrorists accountable for their heinous acts of violence.”
According to Sharif’s office, the Pakistani premier asked Washington to impress upon India to “act responsibly” and “dial down the rhetoric.”
“He [Sharif] categorically rejected Indian attempts to link Pakistan to the incident and pointed to his call for a transparent, credible, and neutral investigation to bring out the facts,” the PMO said.
Sharif told Rubio that India’s recent behavior is “deeply disappointing and worrisome,” saying it would only serve to distract Pakistan from its ongoing efforts to defeat militants, particularly those based in Afghanistan.
Rubio also spoke to India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Wednesday, expressing sorrow for the loss of lives in the Apr. 22 attack.
He also encouraged India to work with Pakistan to de-escalate tensions and maintain peace and security in South Asia, the State Department said.
Several countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkiye and the UK have also called upon both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and avoid a military confrontation.
Pakistani truck art elevates heavy transport into mobile masterpieces
Roots of Pakistani truck art go back to British colonial rule, when owners began adorning their vehicles
Trucks also bear poetry, religious messages and personal slogans, reflecting drivers’ aspirations and humor
Updated 01 May 2025
AP
RAWALPINDI: Trucks thunder along Pakistan’s dusty highways and through bustling city streets, like rolling canvases ablaze with color and poetry, transforming heavy transport into mobile masterpieces and offering a window into the country’s folk culture.
The roots of Pakistani truck art go back to British colonial rule, when owners began adorning their vehicles with intricate floral patterns, calligraphy, and cultural motifs.
What started as modest embellishments has evolved into artistry. Painters, welders, electricians, and metalworkers collaborate to elevate commercial trucks into personalized symbols of pride and regional identity.
There are camel bone inlays in Balochistan, intricate wood carvings in Peshawar, and disco-inspired detail in Rawalpindi.
Muhammad Ashfaq, a 55-year-old from Rawalpindi, has been painting trucks for over four decades.
“Each client comes with their own vision and budget,” said Ashfaq. “We ask which style they prefer: Peshawar, Hazara, Swat, Pindi, Mandi Bahauddin, or Karachi.”
Pindi style is considered the most flamboyant, characterized by vivid colors, elaborate stickers, mirror work, and dense layering of design elements.
“Pindi style is like a bride getting ready for her wedding,” says Farrukh Sana, a truck driver who recently upgraded his vehicle with the vibrant design. “We feel happy when people admire our truck. It’s a symbol of hard work and beauty.”
Styles vary according to cost and components, as well as color and complexity.
A full refurbishment of a truck can cost between 2 to 5 million rupees (about $7,000 to $17,790), depending on the materials used and if major elements like the tires and the chassis are replaced.
But, beyond mere decoration, the trucks also bear poetry, religious messages, and personal slogans, reflecting the aspirations, humor, and emotions of their drivers.
Truck art has transcended cargo vehicles, finding its way onto rickshaws, buses, and even household decor.
It first caught global attention in the 1970s, when foreign tourists started photographing the unusually bright vehicles. Since then, truck art has inspired international exhibitions and influenced contemporary fashion and product design.
The distinctly South Asian tradition endures despite Pakistan’s economic hardships. Artisans like Ashfaq remain devoted to the craft, while drivers like Sana view their trucks as more than a livelihood. They are seen as roving cultural ambassadors.
“Every driver dreams of making his truck look unique,” Sana says with pride. “When we drive it out and people turn their heads, we know we’ve created something special.”
