Even though air traffic between India and Pakistan has never been too heavy, the passenger load of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has taken a severe hit in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks on November 26. Its Indian counterpart had already snapped services, more due to cost-cutting measures than the recent developments.

The National Carrier of India Limited (NACIL) discontinued flights to Pakistan four months ago due to poor passenger load. According to information received from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and the Pakistan High Commission in India, the total volume of air traffic between the two countries from January to November 2008 stood at an estimated 2.5 lakh passengers.

“After the Mumbai terror attacks, there have been 80 per cent cancellations in this sector. Now, with India having issued an advisory against travel to Pakistan, the Indo-Pak air traffic will see a more than 50 per cent drop. The outlook for the next six months remains uncertain,” said Raji Rai, President, Travel Agents’ Association of India (TAAI).

The association also sees a significant loss of revenue owing to the recent straining of relations between the two neighbours. “There has been a 15-20 per cent fall in bookings since 26/11,” Rai said.

At present, PIA flies on a weekly schedule of four Delhi-Lahore flights, three Delhi-Karachi flights and five Mumbai-Karachi flights. There is, however, no flight from Mumbai to Lahore.

According to PIA officials, the air traffic load has already seen a 50 per cent dip in this sector after 26/11.

“The main traffic from India to Pakistan is that of transit labourers travelling to the Middle East. After 26/11, at least two of our flights had to be cancelled and the passenger load has fallen 50 per cent,” said a senior PIA official on condition of anonymity.

The official also mentioned that only 54 passengers took the 118-seater PIA flight to Lahore from Delhi on Saturday.