Riyadh Air has entered Pakistan through Islamabad and Lahore, but Karachi travelers heading to Munich still have a simpler one-stop option through Istanbul on Turkish Airlines. I usually judge a Europe ticket at Jinnah International by the baggage tag, not the launch ceremony. The tag tells me enough. When Turkish Airlines checks my suitcase through to Munich via Istanbul, the connection becomes part of one journey instead of a second problem. Riyadh Air for Karachi Travelers now sounds tempting after the Saudi carrier entered Pakistan, but a Karachi passenger needs to look past the new Boeing 787 before changing airlines. Riyadh Air began its Islamabad service on 14 August 2026 with seven weekly flights. Lahore follows on 18 August with three weekly services, also using Boeing 787-9 aircraft. Karachi remains outside. The initial Pakistan schedule does not include it. For someone living in Karachi and travelling to Munich, that missing city changes the whole calculation. Riyadh A...
The Makkah Pact may be creating a regional maritime-security corridor linking Pakistan’s Arabian Sea position with Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea interests through Bab el-Mandeb. Late tonight in Karachi, I had a message from a retired Pakistan Army officer open beside a shipping map of the Red Sea. He had pushed me back toward Alfred Thayer Mahan and asked whether old fleet logic still explains power at sea. The question stayed with me. A Makkah Pact sea-power alliance may not need an American-style fleet if its members can combine maritime awareness with long-range denial. The colonel deserves credit for the angle. His comment sent me back to Mahan's 1890 book, where the American strategist tied national power to commerce and a navy capable of protecting it. I would not treat “Seven Seas Theory” as Mahan's formal doctrine, because official US naval history presents a broader argument about commerce and concentrated naval power. His larger question remains useful. Makkah Pact Sea-Po...