ISLAMABAD: Virgin Atlantic will in December start services between Britain and Pakistan, where local airlines face a ban on flying to most European destinations due to a scandal over unqualified pilots. Virgin, 51% owned by Richard Branson's Virgin Group and 49% by US airline Delta, said its flights will go on sale next month, becoming the second western carrier after British Airways to serve destinations in the country.
"We're thrilled to announce that from December, we'll be flying direct to Pakistan," said a tweet from Virgin, whose trade creditors on Tuesday voted in favor of a 1.2 billion pound ($1.6 billion) rescue plan.
"We'll have flights from Heathrow to both Lahore and Islamabad, plus direct service from Manchester to Islamabad," the tweet said.
Pakistan grounded 262 pilots for "dubious" qualifications late June, prompted by a preliminary report into a crash in Karachi in May that found the pilots didn't follow standard procedures and disregarded alarms.
That crash killed 97 passengers and crew.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) banned two Pakistani airlines from flying to the bloc for six months, while Britain and the United States have also revoked landing rights for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
Various global safety boards have also downgraded the national carrier's rating over aviation safety risks and several countries have grounded Pakistani pilots.
The ban has given openings to players like Virgin to vie with PIA on some of the world's most lucrative routes, though PIA has resumed flights to the UK using a plane leased from Portugal-based Hi Fly.
PIA spokesman Abdullah H. Khan said healthy competition was good for the industry. "We sincerely hope that we'll be able to restore our suspension before or during that time," he said, referring to the scheduled start of Virgin.
Virgin Atlantic to start Pakistan flights
https://arab.news/6w46v
Virgin Atlantic to start Pakistan flights
- The airline will operate direct flights from Heathrow to Lahore and Islamabad
- PIA continues to face a ban on flying to most European destinations due to a scandal over unqualified pilots
Pakistan saw up to 17% drop in cross-border attacks after Afghan border closure — think tank
- CRSS calls 2025 the deadliest year in a decade with 3,417 violence-linked fatalities nationwide
- Violence remained concentrated in the western provinces as security forces killed 2,060 militants
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan recorded a sharp decline in cross-border militant attacks and violence-linked fatalities in the final months of 2025 after it closed its border with Afghanistan in October, even as the country endured its deadliest year in a decade overall, according to an annual security report released by a local think tank on Wednesday.
Pakistan has frequently accused Afghanistan of sheltering proscribed armed factions, such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), in the past, while also pointing a finger at the Taliban administration in Kabul for “facilitating” their attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces.
The Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) said in its report that terrorist attacks fell by nearly 17% in December, following a 9% decline in November, after Pakistan shut the border on Oct. 11. It noted that violence-linked fatalities among civilians and security personnel also declined in the final quarter of the year, falling by nearly 4% and 19% respectively in November and December.
“Pakistan recorded a significant drop in cross-border terrorist attacks and violence-linked fatalities after it closed down the border to Afghanistan,” CRSS said.
Despite the late-year decline, the think tank said 2025 “went by as the most violent year for Pakistan in a decade,” with overall violence surging nearly 34% year-on-year.
Fatalities rose from 2,555 in 2024 to 3,417 in 2025 — an increase of 862 deaths — extending a five-year upward trend in violence that coincides with the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, the report said.
“2025 marked another grim year for Pakistan’s security landscape,” it added, noting that violence has increased every year since 2021, with annual surges of nearly 38% in 2021, over 15% in 2022, 56% in 2023, nearly 67% in 2024 and 34% in 2025.
REGIONAL CONCENTRATION
Violence remained heavily concentrated in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces, which together accounted for more than 96% of all fatalities and nearly 93% of violent incidents nationwide.
KP was the worst-hit region, recording 2,331 fatalities in 2025 — a 44% increase from 1,620 deaths in 2024 — accounting for more than 82% of the net national rise in violence.
Balochistan saw fatalities rise from 787 to 956, an increase of nearly 22%.
In contrast, Punjab and Sindh recorded relatively low levels of violence, together accounting for less than 3% of total casualties, which CRSS said pointed to “relative containment of violence despite the provinces’ large populations.”
The report also flagged the spread of violence into previously calmer regions, with Azad Jammu and Kashmir recording 15 fatalities in 2025 after reporting no violence a year earlier.
MILITANT DEATH TOLL
CRSS said 2025 was also the deadliest year in a decade for militant groups, with outlaws accounting for more than 60% of all fatalities.
“2025 turned out to be the deadliest year for outlaws in a decade,” the report said, with 2,060 militants killed during at least 392 security operations, surpassing the combined fatalities of civilians and security personnel.
Security forces, however, remained the primary targets of militant groups.
The army and Frontier Corps recorded 374 fatalities, including 22 officers, while police suffered 216 casualties.
The TTP claimed responsibility for the largest share of attacks on security personnel, followed by the BLA, the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and Daesh’s regional chapter.
