KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will resume direct flights to Britain in October after securing international safety and security approvals, the national carrier said on Wednesday, marking its return to one of its most important markets five years after a ban was imposed.
Britain lifted restrictions on Pakistani carriers in July, nearly half a decade after grounding them in the wake of a 2020 PIA Airbus A320 crash in Karachi that killed 97 people. The disaster led to a government investigation that exposed irregularities in pilot licensing and triggered bans in both the UK and European Union.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency lifted its suspension in November 2024, allowing PIA to restart flights to Paris in January before expanding to Lahore–Paris in June. But the airline suspended those services in recent months to prioritize resources for the UK relaunch.
“Pakistan International Airlines has formally received approval as a Third Country Operator (TCO) to operate flights to the United Kingdom,” said Abdullah Khan, a spokesperson for the airline. “The national carrier will restart direct flight operations to the UK from next month.”
PIA will initially relaunch services to Manchester, with Birmingham and London to follow, Khan added.
