The national carrier has decided to resume flights to Swat, Gilgit, and Skardu with the aim to promote tourism.
The Saidu Sharif Airport in Swat which was scaled down due to the law and order situation in 2004 is scheduled to resume operations once the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) upgrades it and it is fit to be operational.
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As per the information the authorities have completed the development work at the airport.
PIA Spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez said the national carrier has decided to fly semiweekly to the Saidu Sharif Airport from Islamabad next month to facilitate tourists.
He also mentioned PIA plans to operate flights between Lahore and Gilgit and Lahore and Skardu from next month.
According to Mr. Hafeez, once the airport is fit to resume operations, PIA would announce the schedule, but as of yet, the regulatory authority has only been informed about the plan to start operations.
According to CAA only 27 of the 44 airports around the country are fully operational, while six have been scaled down and 11 completely shut. Among the non-functional ones are Sargodha and Bannu.
Sargodha airport does not have any CAA staff, but it has an operational PAF base Mushaf.
The facility in Bannu was scaled down in 2002 due to it being inviable for commercial airliners. Till now, there is no consideration to operationalize Bannu Airport.
The ones that have been scaled down include the ones in Khuzdar, Muzaffarabad, Balakot, Bannu, Parachinar, and Saidu Sharif.
The airports that have been closed are in Jiwani PN, Ormara, Sibi, Mangla, Kohat, Bhagtanwala, Mianwali, Sehwan Sharif, Mirpurkhas, Talhar and Jacobabad.
Out of the 27 operational airports around the country, 12 airports running international flights and 15 are handling domestic flights.
The 12 international airports operating across Pakistan are Jinnah International Airport Karachi, Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore, Islamabad International Airport Islamabad, Bacha Khan International Airport Peshawar, Quetta International Airport, Multan International Airport, Faisalabad, Rahim Yar Khan, Turbat, Gwadar, old Benazir Bhutto International Airport and Sialkot International Airport.
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CAA mentioned that if the need arises, a scaled-down airport could be made fully operational in 90 days period.