Whatever the stagnant state of affairs in the rest of the country, this independence day will be an important landmark for the nation’s flag carrier – a long-awaited and indeed long-overdue makeover.
Pakistan International Airlines will be celebrating 14th August with a bang, not only launching a new service route, with (almost) new Airbus aircrafts, and to top it all off brand-new uniforms for the cabin crew.
The PIA crew will now be sporting Nomi Ansari creations on the ‘Premier Service’ that’s going to be inaugurated on independence day, flying from Islamabad to London initially, with Lahore-London-Lahore also on the cards in the following weeks.
The Nomi Ansari-designed uniform was selected as the winner in a competition held last year, in which many of the big names on the Pakistani fashion scene participated. The male flight attendants only get new ties, but the ladies’ outfits are accessorized with Sania Maskatiya scarves.
With this glamorous new look, the ‘great people to fly with’ are hoping to recapture the market share that has been frittered away in recent years, to the benefit of competitors, mainly from the gulf countries.