Pakistan eyes UK flight resumption by early 2025 after British inspection

Celina Ali

Islamabad: Pakistan is expected to secure approval from British aviation authorities to resume direct flight operations by the first quarter of 2025, pending a critical inspection by UK officials scheduled for January.

Director General of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) Nadir Shafi Dar has said that representatives from the UK Department for Transport and the UK Civil Aviation Authority would conduct an inspection visit in the third week of January 2025.

An online meeting between the two sides is also planned for the third week of December 2024.

“The inspection will follow criteria similar to the European Union assessment, which yielded positive results. We are optimistic that the evaluation will lead to operational clearance within weeks,” Dar stated.

Before the suspension, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) operated 21 weekly flights to the UK, including 10 to London, nine to Manchester, and two to Birmingham.

PIA officials anticipate a significant revenue boost once flights to the UK and Europe resume.

Earlier, Pakistan International Airlines said it will resume flights to Europe in January, starting with Paris, after the EU aviation regulator lifted a ban on the national flag carrier.

PIA’s authorisation to operate in the EU was suspended in June 2020 over concerns about the ability of Pakistani authorities and its Civil Aviation Authority to ensure compliance with international aviation standards.

“We have got approval for the first flight’s schedule we had filed,” PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan said, adding that the airline would be opening bookings on December 9 for its planned January 10 flight of a Boeing 777 to Paris.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency and Britain suspended PIA’s permission to operate in the region after Pakistan began probing a scandal over the validity of pilots’ licences in the wake of a plane crash that killed 97 people.

The ban cost the loss-making airline Rs 40 billion ($144 million) annually in revenue.

PIA has a 23% share in Pakistan’s domestic aviation market, but its 34-plane fleet cannot compete with Middle Eastern carriers which have a 60% share, due to a lack of direct flights, despite having agreements with 87 countries and key landing slots.

Pakistan’s attempt to privatize PIA fell flat when it received only a single offer, well below its asking price.