ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will scale back operations to France by suspending its Lahore–Paris flights in mid-September, a PIA spokesperson said on Monday, adding the move is linked to planned resumption of services to the United Kingdom (UK).
PIA resumed flights to Europe in January after a four-and-a-half-year ban on the airline was lifted by European regulators. The airline began two weekly flights between Lahore and Paris on June 18.
PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez told Arab News the last Paris–Lahore flight will operate on Sept. 12, while the final Lahore–Paris flight will depart from the country on Sept. 17.
“The Lahore–Paris route is not being permanently closed but has been temporarily suspended to prioritize operations to the United Kingdom (UK) as passenger demand is currently low during the lean season,” Hafeez said, adding the airline is expected to resume UK flight operations by mid-October.
Debt-ridden PIA was banned in June 2020 from flying to the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom and the United States, a month after one of its Airbus A-320s plunged into a residential neighborhood in Karachi, killing nearly 100 people.
