Pakistan, June 10 -- A new private airline based in Karachi received its Regular Public Transport (RPT) license from Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) last week, one of its key stakeholders confirmed on Monday, expressing hope the carrier would begin operations soon.

Air Karachi, spearheaded by prominent business leaders from Pakistan's southern port city, is modeled after the success of Air Sial, another airline launched by industrialists in Sialkot.

The idea, conceived amid growing challenges faced by the country's national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), is to develop a business-backed airline that can operate with efficiency and financial autonomy.

"Yes, we got the license from CAA," Hanif Gohar, one of the a...