Karachi, Pakistan – November 7, 2023: Emirates, the world’s largest international airline and facilitator of vital trade links, is proud to announce a significant milestone in its history in Pakistan. This month, Emirates is celebrating its 10th anniversary of providing customers in Sialkot with passenger and cargo services. Over the past decade, Emirates has firmly established itself as a key player in this dynamic region, supporting travel and the movement of goods with unmatched dedication and commitment.
For ten years, Emirates has been connecting the industrial city of Sialkot with the world through its direct services to Dubai, the hub city of the airline, and seamless connectivity. With the inaugural flight to Sialkot in November 2013, the city became the fifth Pakistani point in Emirates network.
Emirates has had a transformative impact on Sialkot, providing an alternative gateway to the Export Triangle of Pakistan, encompassing Gujrat, Sialkot, and Gujranwala. Sialkot, renowned for its manufacturing excellence in producing sporting goods, clothing, and leather garments, amongst others, has significantly benefited from Emirates’ cargo services. Emirates SkyCargo has played a pivotal role in exporting more than 41,000 tonnes of commodities, in addition to imports in excess of 1,400 tonnes.
With seven weekly flights connecting Sialkot to global destinations, Emirates has become an integral part of the city’s aviation landscape, carrying more than 1.5 million passengers on routes from and to Sialkot over the ten-year period. During the same period, Emirates operated more than 5,500 flights from and to Sialkot.
The airline offers diverse and robust connections, with the most popular destinations and points of origin for Sialkot including Dubai, Barcelona, Paris, London, Jeddah, Johannesburg, amongst other destinations in the UK and Europe. Emirates caters to a broad range of traveller segments, from leisure to business and corporate travellers, participating in exhibitions and business engagements, as well as students pursuing their higher education abroad.
On the occasion of the airline’s tenth anniversary of operations in Sialkot, Mohammed Alhashmi, Emirates’ Vice President for Pakistan said “Sialkot is an important point in our network in Pakistan and we are pleased to have connected passengers and manufacturers with our global network using our unrivalled services. For ten years, we have gone from strength to strength in Pakistan, establishing ourselves as a reliable airline for a broad segment of travellers, including leisure, business and corporate, students and those visiting family and friends, in addition to exporters of goods. We would also like to thank all our partners and key stakeholders for their contributions to our successful operations over the years.
“Emirates is proud of the journey it has shared with Sialkot over the past decade, and we look forward to many more years of successful partnership, growth, and connectivity. This milestone marks a decade of commitment to the city, its people, and its vibrant industries,” continued Alhashmi.
Emirates and Pakistan share a special relationship, which goes back almost 38 years when its first ever flight from Dubai landed in Karachi on 25th October 1985. Since then, this historic partnership has continued to flourish with Emirates currently operating over 50 weekly flights to five Pakistani cities including Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Sialkot, which continue to be an integral part of the airline’s network.
Travellers flying with Emirates can enjoy the best experience in the sky with an unmatched culinary experience, thanks to regionally-inspired multi-course menus developed by a team of award-winning chefs and complemented by a wide selection of premium beverages. Customers can sit back and relax with more than 6,500 channels of carefully curated global entertainment content featuring movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, games, audiobooks and more with ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system. Travellers can select from regional content including Urdu, Pashto and Punjabi content to keep them entertained on flights.
