LONDON: Hopes for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to resume flights to the United Kingdom were dashed as the UK Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed on Tuesday that the air safety ban on Pakistani carriers remains in place.
A spokesperson for the department stated that airlines must undergo a rigorous process before any restrictions are lifted. The UK Civil Aviation Authority is in ongoing discussions with Pakistani authorities, but no immediate changes to the ban have been announced.
PIA, along with all Pakistani airlines, remains listed on the UK Air Safety List, which restricts carriers deemed to have safety deficiencies from operating commercial flights to and from the UK. According to an official UK government statement, “All air carriers certified by the authorities with responsibility for regulatory oversight of Pakistan are banned from operating commercial air services to, from, and within the United Kingdom.”
This development follows reports that the British Air Safety Committee had recently deliberated on lifting the ban, raising expectations among Pakistani aviation officials. However, the latest confirmation indicates that PIA’s return to UK airspace is still not imminent.
The ban was initially imposed in July 2020 after a scandal involving fraudulent pilot licenses rocked Pakistan’s aviation industry. The revelation, made by then-Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, came in the aftermath of a tragic PIA Airbus A320 crash in Karachi that claimed nearly 100 lives. The scandal led to bans in the UK, the European Union, and the United States, costing PIA an estimated Rs40 billion ($144 million) annually in lost revenue.
Despite its continued exclusion from UK airspace, PIA made a partial comeback in January 2025 by resuming direct flights to Europe with an Islamabad-Paris route. PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan expressed optimism, stating that once cleared by the DfT, the airline plans to prioritize flights to London, Manchester, and Birmingham.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani government has decided to accelerate PIA’s privatization. On Tuesday, the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP), chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, approved a plan to divest 51-100% of PIA’s share capital, including management control.
“The government is committed to unlocking PIA’s full potential and reducing its financial burden on the national exchequer,” an official statement from the meeting read.
