Intro:

Tabani Group was the pioneer to promote a private airline “Aero Asia International (Pvt) Ltd”. The Company was granted the First Private Airline Operating license no. 001 in 1992. The first flight was inaugurated on 6 May 1993 with two jet aircrafts BAC 1-11. The Airline was expanded with more aircrafts of western and Russian origins with approximately 800 domestic and international flights per month serving 11 regional destinations with a capacity to cater one million passengers every year. The Airline with strength of 1600+ Staff had its trained ground, ticketing staff and cabin crew at its academy and also had facility for its own catering service as well as engineering department. Having the spotless and air-worthy, safety, punctuality record with load factor of more than 80% on each flight without any incident during its operational life of 13+ years; the Airline had the privilege to obtain IATA registration and ISO 9002 certification – the only Airline in Pakistan to hold such a distinction. The Aero Asia International (Pvt) Ltd. was later acquired by a UK based group on “AS AND WHERE IS BASIS” in June 2006.

Back to the detailed Past:

Aero-Asia International – friendly people, friendly service, was one of Pakistan’s first private sector airlines. It had a domestic network which used to cover all the provinces of Pakistan and was also flying to international destinations. Scheduled domestic services were being operated between Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad and Pasni; while the international sector covers Dubai, Muscat, Doha, Abu-Dhabi and Al-Ain as well as C.I.S-Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan). The airline was equipped with the most reliable fleet of Boeing 707 & 737, BAC 1-11, MD-82, YAK-42-D Aircrafts. Aero Asia was a full service airline being a member of IATA, was registered with ICAO and was fully insured for passengers and baggage liability in accordance with the Warsaw Convention and Hague Protocols. It used to have full-fledged sales offices at prime locations in all major cities and main airports, which were equipped with the most modern communication facilities and had first in-house developed Computerized E-Ticket Reservation System in Pakistan at that time. Aero Asia also used to be a participating member of SITA. Due to best quality of services, the Aero Asia International (Pvt) Ltd. became the first and only airline that was awarded ISO 9002 certification, which was its distinction in aviation industry of Pakistan.

General Agents:

Aero Asia International had a wide network of offices within and outside Pakistan. Apart from its own office at catch station the airline had a wide network of District Sale Agents (DSA), General Sales Agents (GSA) and over 500 stock holder travel agents with hundreds of sub-agents all contributing towards domestic as well as international sales.

The Airline had a well trained team of experts, both for ground and on-board passengers and cargo handling. The airline used to provide smooth, safe and comfortable travel packages to prospective commuters at very competitive low fares.

Air Charter Service:

Tabani Group was actively engaged in providing air charter services and had, over the period, successfully provided passenger and cargo charter to both government and private sector organizations, such as PIA, for assisting them in obtaining aircraft on lease for round-the-clock running of the Hajj, Umrah and other scheduled domestic and international flights; bringing in Tourist Shoppers from CARs and CIS countries earning invisible export revenue for national exchequer to the tune of more than US $ 10 million per month. The Federation Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industries awarded a Trophy and Certificate for this performance.

Aero Express:

In the second year of its operation, Aero Asia began its Cargo and Courier Services under the name of “Aero-Express”. This Unit was established with professional staff and a sound infrastructure to provide effective and efficient services.
Aero Asia ran its Cargo services on international and domestic flights for several major foreign airlines through an “Interline Cargo Agreement” concluded with Emirates Airline, Gulf Air, Royal Jordanian Airline, Kuwait Airways, Cathy Pacific, Thai Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Qatar Airways, Oman Air, Saudi Arabian Airline and Singapore Airline.
Besides the agreement with these leading airlines, the Aero Asia had signed with several government and private organizations for the carriage of their cargo on domestic and international routes.
Aero Express – the courier service operated in collaboration with other courier companies such as Pakistan Postal Corporation, TCS, DHL, Leopard courier services etc.

Tourism:

Being the single largest tour operator in Pakistan, Aero Asia had been serving both local and foreign tourists in Pakistan. It looked after their requirement of boarding, lodging and tour guide services thereby boosting tourism in Pakistan. Aero Asia’s Tourists Department had managed and arranged thousands of tours from Russian, CIS, Far Eastern and other Asian countries. It had also successfully organized and operated several tourist charters, particularly from the Central Asian States, CIS and Russian Federation as well as UAE. The department used to co-ordinate in-house tours and visits along with premier services that range from arrival of tourists to their departure.