UK to review PIA flight resumption next month

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The British Safety Committee has reportedly scheduled a meeting for March 12, 2025 to review the resumption of Pakistan International Airlines' (PIA) direct flights to the UK.

During this meeting, the committee will assess the resumption of PIA's flights. The British Civil Aviation Authority and the Department for Transport (DFT) will present the latest audit reports of PIA and Pakistan Civil Aviation, sources told Express News.

If the British Safety Committee approves, PIA will resume direct flights to the UK. The airline has been banned from operating flights to the UK since July 2020.

PIA management is hopeful about the restoration of flights to the UK following the successful resumption of operations in European countries, sources reveal.

Photo: UK Flight Safety Committee

The airline's management has already devised a plan to begin flights to London, Manchester, and Birmingham immediately upon receiving approval.

A two-member PIA team recently returned to Pakistan after reviewing the preparations for flight operations in the UK.

A month ago, PIA resumed its operations to Europe on Friday with a flight departing for Paris.

The first flight, PK-749, took off from Islamabad International Airport (IIAP) on Friday at 12:10 pm, utilising a Boeing 777 (AP-BGK) aircraft. The flight carried 330 passengers and 14 crew members.

Meanwhile, a team from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is scheduled to visit Pakistan in March to assess the feasibility of resuming direct flights between Pakistan and the US.

In preparation for the visit, Islamabad has already paid the required $75,000 fee, sources have revealed.

Direct flights from Pakistan to the US were suspended in 2017 and efforts to restore them faced setbacks due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2020 PIA aircraft crash in Karachi.

Following the European Union's ban on the national carrier, the FAA downgraded Pakistan's aviation safety rating from category CA1 to category CA2, further delaying the resumption of flights.