The year 1955 also marked the inauguration of the fledgling airline's first scheduled international service - to the glittering, glitzy capital city of London, via Cairo and Rome. Initially, there was much criticism, as the public could not comprehend or justify the need to operate an international route when, in their opinion, other projects vital for a developing country should have been given a higher priority. However, PIA's focus was, and continues to be, to serve the Pakistani community at large. The provision of transportation to expatriates has remained one of the foremost priorities of the national airline. Moreover, PIA earned substantial foreign exchange through international services, which it invested in the purchase of aircraft and spare parts, as fleet expansion was a grave necessity for the airline.