PESHAWAR — Private airline South Air announced on Monday its plans to launch new flight routes connecting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Dera Ismail Khan and Chitral districts with the rest of the country. The announcement was made by South Air Chairman Kanwar Muhammad Tariq during a high-level meeting with KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi. The move aims to bring air network connectivity to smaller and more remote regions of Pakistan.
Key Highlights
- South Air plans to launch daily flights to Dera Ismail Khan and regular flights to Chitral.
- The airline has finalized all operational, technical, and administrative setups to start nationwide flights this month.
- New routes from Peshawar will include daily flights to Lahore, alongside flights to Karachi and Quetta.
- KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi assured the airline of complete government cooperation to boost provincial tourism and business.
- Rehabilitation work is underway to reopen the Dera Ismail Khan International Airport, which has been closed since 2015.
South Air delegation met with Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi @fkkundi to discuss regional connectivity, tourism, and aviation development in the province.#SouthAir #SouthAirPakistan #KhyberPakhtunkhwa #PakistanAviation #RegionalConnectivity #SOSGROUP pic.twitter.com/bRgcx9k8v9
— SouthAir (@FlySouthAir) June 1, 2026
Expanding the Provincial Air Network from Peshawar
South Air Chairman Kanwar Muhammad Tariq confirmed that the airline has completed all necessary technical and administrative preparations to officially launch its commercial flight operations across the country this month. He emphasized that D.I. Khan is a highly important station for the airline’s network. Beyond the remote routes, South Air will establish regular flights connecting Peshawar to Karachi and Quetta, as well as a daily flight service between Peshawar and Lahore. This regional expansion follows the airline’s successful first trial flight conducted last week between Karachi and Gwadar.
Governor Kundi welcomed the initiative, stating that better air links are absolutely essential for promoting business and tourism in KP, which he described as the tourism hub of Pakistan. He noted that many important areas in the province are still deprived of aviation services and expressed hope that the new flights to major cities would create jobs and boost local economic activities.
Infrastructure Upgrades and Future Airport Expansion Plans
The discussion regarding the new flight paths follows the governor’s recent visit to the Dera Ismail Khan International Airport. Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA) officials briefed the governor on the active rehabilitation efforts at the facility, which has remained closed for over a decade since 2015. Kundi shared that the carpeting of the runway has already been finished, and the remaining maintenance work will be wrapped up soon to make the airport fully operational for upcoming commercial flights.
The governor also highlighted long-term aviation goals for the region, mentioning a proposed Green Field International Airport project. The future facility is planned to span across more than 1,700 acres of land and will feature the structural capacity to manage over one million passengers every year.
