Bhoja Air
Bhoja Air () was a Pakistani airline based in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The airline was founded in 1993 and operated a small domestic network of scheduled passenger flights. Due to financial difficulties, the airline completely suspended operations between 2000 and 2012. After a brief re-launch, and the subsequent crash of Bhoja Air Flight 213 on the day of the re-launch, Bhoja Air lost its operational license and ceased operations for the final time in July 2012. History On 7 November 1993, Bhoja Air started operations on domestic routes between Karachi, Lahore and Quetta with a dry leased Boeing 737-200. It was registered in Pakistan, making Bhoja the first private airline in the country to operate a Western manufactured aircraft. Bhoja Air is a privately owned airline of the Bhoja Group of Companies with its head office at Shahrah–e-Liaquat, Karachi and corporate offices at KDA Scheme No 1. In 1996, it signed a deal with the handling agent group OGDENS with complete ground handling equipment at Karachi, capable of handling Boeing 747s. In the same year another sister company, Pakistan Aviators and Aviation located at Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore was purchased, along with a hotel for passenger stop-overs. On 24 January 1998 Bhoja Air commenced international flights from Karachi to Dubai where Mr Saleem Ahmad Kashmiri was given charge of the airline operations in the Gulf. Later, Bhoja Air operated flights to the U.A.E. from all major cities of Pakistan. However, due to financial difficulties, Bhoja Air suspended its operations in 2000, although its airline licence issued by CAA – Pakistan remained valid and it maintained a fully functional headquarters office in Karachi and a flight ops and camp office at Karachi Jinnah International. The airline became active again during late 2011, and on 6 March 2012, they operated their first flight in twelve years. The airline was sold by its former owner and Chairman Mr. M. Farooq Omar Bhoja to M. Arshad Jalil. Under the new ownership structure, 80% shares of Bhoja Air were owned by its Managing Director M. Arshad Jalil, whilst the rest were owned by his wife Mrs. Naz Jalil, his son Mr. Umar Jalil and three other people including its former owner Mr. M. Farooq Omar Bhoja. Among the minority shareholders Mr. M. Farooq Bhoja owned only five percent of the shares, the remaining shares belong to two directors, Mr. Mazhar Hussain and Mr. Zeeshan Kirmani. However, on 20 April, a Bhoja Air flight from Karachi to Islamabad crashed, killing all 127 passengers and crew aboard and completely destroying the aircraft. Closure Following the crash of Flight 213, the airline fully suspended operations for a second time on 22 April, just six weeks after their relaunch. The crash reduced their fleet size from three to two aircraft, thus, Bhoja Air were in breach of Pakistani law, which requires airlines to have at least three aircraft; Bhoja Air had lost one in the crash of Flight 213, a second was grounded, leaving only one operational aircraft.