Pakistan orders fast-tracked feasibility study for direct flights to the Maldives; Maldivian eyes Malé–Karachi service

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has told Pakistan’s civil aviation authorities to prepare a fast-tracked feasibility study for direct flights between Pakistan and the Maldives, saying air connectivity is essential if the two countries are to hit their ambitious trade targets.

Speaking on Thursday at the Pakistan–Maldives Business Forum in Islamabad, alongside Maldivian President Dr Mohamed Muizzu, the prime minister noted that there is currently no direct air link between Malé and Pakistani cities — “neither to Islamabad nor Karachi” — and called the missing connection a gap that had to be closed quickly. “I have already given instructions to our civil aviation [officials] to prepare a quick feasibility [study], be it PIA, or any other airline in Pakistan,” he said, adding that the aim was to put together a first flight carrying tourists and the business community to Malé.

The Maldivian side is moving on its own track too. President Muizzu told the forum that the island nation’s flag carrier, Maldivian, intends to launch a direct service between Malé and Karachi soon — a route he said would make travel easier and open new doors for trade and tourism.

It is not only about the skies. Sharif stressed that a reliable direct shipping schedule from Karachi or Gwadar to Malé was equally necessary, warning that without it the two countries would struggle to meet their targets efficiently. The leaders had agreed a day earlier to lift bilateral trade from about $13 million to $200 million within two years, and Sharif announced that a Pakistani delegation of ministers and business leaders would travel to Malé within a week of Muizzu’s return to start turning the commitments into deals.

Muizzu’s three-day state visit, which began Tuesday, is the first by a Maldivian president to Pakistan in 11 years and coincides with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.