I am writing this letter in response to letters on Air Marshall Nur Khan in these columns. Air Marshall Nur Khan’s role as Managing Director Pakistan International Airlines is testament to his dynamic personality and meritorious contributions to the national flag carrier in its early formative years. In Nur Khan’s passing, the nation has lost a remarkable and distinguished son of the soil, and among his many stellar achievements for the nation, his contribution to establishing PIA as one of the world’s leading airlines in the 1960s needs to be fully celebrated and recognised.
Air Marshall Nur Khan assumed the position of Managing Director of PIA in 1959, and served the organisation with exemplary dedication and professionalism until 1964. It was during those six years that PIA rose from a fledgling airline to one of the topmost national airlines of the world, recognised internationally for overall excellence of performance and service. PIA’s many achievements under Nur Khan’s dynamic and farsighted leadership included the following:
In 1961, PIA initiated its first Trans-Atlantic operation, with the initiation of flights from Karachi to New York. In 1962, a PIA flight recorded the fastest travel time between London and Karachi, a record that remains unbroken to this day. In 1964, PIA became the first non-communist national flag carrier to operate flights to China. Similarly, under Nur Khan’s administration, PIA became the first Asian airline to introduce jet aircraft into operation, inducting Boeing 720Bs into its fast-growing fleet. Owing to these enterprising innovations, and because of a transparent and efficient administration under Nur Khan, PIA enjoyed tremendous commercial success as a profit-making corporation during those pioneering years. It was under Nur Khan’s leadership that PIA acquired new aircrafts like Fokker F-27s, Boeing 720Bs, and Sikorsky helicopters, which operated with great success in East Pakistan, servicing 70,000 passengers in their first year of operation.
In 1973, Nur Khan was again asked by the government of Pakistan to head PIA. During his second term as well, Nur Khan succeeded in operating the airline on a commercially viable basis, and it was during this term that PIA acquired the wide body DC-10s and Boeing 747s.
As this brief synopsis of Air Marshall Nur Khan’s services to PIA amply demonstrates, as a highly motivated, committed, and dedicated administrator, Nur Khan was able to raise a young airline to a stature where it merited comparisons with the world’s top airlines. Under Nur Khan’s spotless leadership, PIA functioned as a de-politicised, responsible, and commercially viable corporation, showcasing professionalism and commercial success due to his singular vision and exemplary zeal and commitment. In these days and times, when PIA is battling with many potential difficulties, it is heartening to look back at that successful chapter in its history, and to take inspiration from it.
YASMIN HAROON
Incharge PR, PIA, Lahore
