UK lifts restrictions on Pakistan airlines after five-year ban
The UK Air Safety Committee decided to lift the ban after aviation safety improvements in Pakistan, the British High Commission in Islamabad said on Wednesday, adding that decisions on delisting states and air carriers were made 'through an independent aviation safety process'.
'Based on this independent and technically-driven process, it has decided to remove Pakistan and its air carriers from the [UK Air Safety] List,' the high commission said in a statement.
The move comes after the European Union Aviation Safety Agency lifted a four-year ban on PIA, and the Pakistani state-owned carrier resumed flights to Europe in January.
Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said at a news conference on Wednesday that resuming all routes would improve PIA's value ahead of its privatisation and there were plans to restart flights to New York.
Asif also said he attributed the ban to what he described as 'baseless' remarks made by former Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan. He blamed Khan's false statements and mismanagement during his tenure as aviation minister for the ban. 'It was a national-level blunder,' Asif said.
PIA was barred from flying to the UK in June 2020, a month after one of its aircraft plunged into a Karachi street, killing 97 people.
The disaster was attributed to human error by the pilots and air traffic control and was followed by allegations that nearly a third of the licences for its pilots were fake or dubious. Pakistan launched an investigation to examine these claims.
While several private Pakistani airlines operate domestically and on regional routes, primarily to the Middle East, PIA has historically been the only carrier to operate long-haul flights to Britain and the EU.
PIA, which employs 7,000 people, has long been accused of being bloated and poorly run – hobbled by unpaid bills, a poor safety record and regulatory issues.
PIA had previously estimated an annual revenue loss of about 40 billion rupees ($144m) due to the ban. The airline has long considered UK routes, including London, Manchester and Birmingham, among its most profitable and holds sought-after landing slots at London's Heathrow Airport that could become active again.
Pakistan's government has said it is committed to privatising the debt-ridden airline and has been scrambling to find a buyer. It is hoping that recent reforms that led to the airline's first operating profit in 21 years, will help attract buyers under a broader International Monetary Fund-backed privatisation push.
In 2024, a deal fell through after a potential buyer reportedly offered a fraction of the asking price.
This month, Pakistan approved four groups to bid for a 51 to 100 percent stake in PIA. Final bids are expected later this year.
PIA was established in 1955 when the government nationalised a loss-making commercial airline. It enjoyed rapid growth until the 1990s.
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