[sewage]

What's the cheapest way to fly from Hong Kong to Pakistan? I can layover in Singapore or Bangkok if the need be, but I'd rather not stop in India due to necessity of a visa. I prefer to fly into Karachi but any city is fine. Are there specific agents that have good deals on flights to Pakistan? I can also fly from Mainland China.

Thanks ahead of time.

[texasaxel]

Originally Posted by sewage

What's the cheapest way to fly from Hong Kong to Pakistan? I can layover in Singapore or Bangkok if the need be, but I'd rather not stop in India due to necessity of a visa. I prefer to fly into Karachi but any city is fine. Are there specific agents that have good deals on flights to Pakistan? I can also fly from Mainland China.

Thanks ahead of time.

I'm not sure about the 'cheapest' because that would probably involve airlines, which are on my mental 'no fly' or 'avoid like the plague' list. However, I have taken about 10 trips from Hong Kong to Karachi in the past three years and they were either on Thai via Bangkok or Emirates via Dubai. Mind the long lay-over / connection in Dubai and thus, I've mostly taken Thai recently although I prefer the service / planes of Emirates.

[Alby]

PIA = Pakistan International Airlines...
http://www.piac.com.pk/Pnr.aspx

Typically have to go via Bangkok.

Taking PIA from the mainland still means you have to get yourself to Beijing to fly the the nonstop from Beijing to Islamabad then on to Karachi - no savings in that routing.

Just for the record in the past I have had no problems with flying PIA.

Cathay also flies to Pakistan.

Agents with special links and deals may be found in Chungking Mansion - but not really so much different than other travel agents...in my opinion.

[texasaxel]

Originally Posted by Alby

Cathay also flies to Pakistan.

My mistake ... I mentioned Thai in my comment below but that's incorrect, I fly Cathay to Pakistan (via Bangkok). I was confused because of the Bangkok connection and because to India, I do indeed fly Thai via Bangkok. My comments about Thai service etc. apply to my India trips, not Pakistan. Sorry about that ...

[texasaxel]

Originally Posted by Alby

Just for the record in the past I have had no problems with flying PIA.

I've had problems with PIA before; one time they almost refused to check me in on a domestic flight from Karachi to Lahore because I had an electronic ticket and it took about half an hour and four staff members to get me my boarding pass ---> I literally held up the queue for everyone else.

Thereafter, I insisted that my travel agent issued paper tickets, which they agreed to doing without extra charge.

In August, I faced a three hour delay on departure of the PIA flight from Karachi to Mumbai "due to late arrival of the aircraft" (the plane is late because it's late ...)

The on-board service was fine though.

[texasaxel]

I went to OAG Travel Planner and took a look at which dodgy carriers fly to Karachi from Hong Kong under the assumption that they might be cheap.

Sri Lankan Airlines via Colombo with a 19.5 hours lay-over is top choice in this category.

Another often overlooked option is the Dragonair flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh. There are connections available to Karachi on PIA after a 12.5 hour wait from 1am to 1:30p.m. But given that it's two different carriers, it might not be as cheap as the hazzle suggests it should be.

A better quality carrier is Qatar Airways, they fly to Karachi via Doha but the lay-over is also 19 hours.

Alby mentioned China Airlines via Beijing connecting with PIA. 18.5 hour lay-over on that one.

If you're in a hurry, CX or EK are the best choices. Couldn't see any direct PIA flights.

[Alby]

Originally Posted by texasaxel

Couldn't see any direct PIA flights.

PIA
flt 893 10pm - 5am HKG to Islamabad...
flt 365 7am - 8:55am Islamabad to Karachi

flt 893 leaves HKG on both Tuesday's and Friday's.

[sewage]

Thanks for the responses. I'll look into the different options.