ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is set to resume its London operations on Mar. 29 after a hiatus of six years, Pakistan’s envoy to the United Kingdom (UK) said on Tuesday, adding that PIA flights will be expanded to other UK cities as well.
PIA resumed its UK operations in October 2025 with an inaugural flight to Manchester and the airline is currently operating four weekly flights to the city after Britain lifted a ban on the airline in July.
The ban was imposed after a deadly PIA Airbus A320 crash in Karachi killed 97 people in May 2020. The disaster was followed by allegations of irregularities in pilot licensing, also leading to bans by the United States (US) and the European Union (EU).
“The first flight is landing [in London] on the 29th,” Mohammad Faisal, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK, told reporters in London, adding that “we want to further expand this.”
The process of flight expansion will be gradual until the airline, which was privatized last year, overcomes its financial challenges, according to the diplomat.
“Clearly, there is a slight financial crunch at the moment, but our community extensively uses PIA, and ticket prices are also reasonable,” he said.
“So, God willing, it will land in London two or three times a week and in Manchester four times a week.”
In December last year, Pakistan’s government succeeded in its long-standing efforts to privatize the national airline, after a consortium led by Arif Habib Group acquired a 75 percent stake in PIA for Rs135 billion ($482 million), valuing the airline at Rs180 billion ($643 million).
The sale represented Pakistan’s most ambitious attempt in decades to reform the debt-laden airline, which had accumulated more than $2.8 billion in losses. The government said at the time the move would end decades of state-funded bailouts and help revive the carrier.
Shortly after acquiring 75 percent stake in the airline, Habib had said he planned to renovate planes, improve maintenance and flight schedules, and introduce new aircraft to revive the airline.
