Business Desk 
Jul 25, 2025
Air Karachi, a newly established domestic airline entity in Pakistan, will be launching imminently, offering low fares and a fresh fleet of Chinese passenger aircraft.
On June 5, 2025, the airline received its Regular Public Transport (RPT) license from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and will launch services to all major cities in Pakistan shortly.
Chairman Hanif Gauhar reported to reporters that Chinese aircraft cost almost 50% less than the name brands recognised by customers, Boeing and Airbus, respectively.
This key decision will help the airline dramatically reduce its leasing and maintenance costs, and this should enable ticket prices to fall by up to 40%, which will lead to greater affordability for more passengers.
“Our goal is to get the average Pakistani flying as much as possible,” said Gauhar. “Because we can get Chinese planes at lower costs, we can offer lower prices to the passengers.”
In its first phase, Air Karachi will only operate on domestic routes. The plan is to initially use Chinese pilots while Pakistani pilots are trained and licensed. Air Karachi is working on obtaining flight simulators from China and spare engines to reduce the downtime required to train crews as quickly as possible.
The CAA has raised no objections to the use of Chinese aircraft and confirmed that all regulatory checks have been cleared.
