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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
21 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
UK moves to reinstate extradition deal with Hong Kong despite concerns
The United Kingdom government is moving to reinstate extradition cooperation with Hong Kong that was suspended five years ago due to concerns about the city's Chinese national security laws. The Home Office applied to Parliament to make the changes on July 17, followed by a letter to Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp the next day. 'It is in our national interest to have effective extradition relationships to prevent criminals from evading justice and the UK becoming a haven for criminals,' the July 18 letter from Security Minister Dan Jarvis said. The Home Office also plans to restore an extradition framework with Chile and Zimbabwe, according to the letter, which was shared on X by Conservative MP Alicia Kearns. Cases for Hong Kong and Zimbabwe would both be considered on a 'case-by-case basis,' Jarvis said. Hong Kong, a former British colony, is a particular sticking point for the UK due to their historical relationship and the sharp decline in political freedoms in Hong Kong since China imposed controversial national security legislation in 2020. In 2024, legislators in Hong Kong approved a new national security law - referred to as Article 23 – that gave the government new powers to crack down on all forms of dissent on the grounds of alleged treason, espionage, sedition and external interference in Hong Kong's internal affairs. At the time, Hong Kong's government said Article 23 was needed to prevent a recurrence of the protests of 2019, and that its provisions would only affect 'an extremely small minority' of disloyal residents. The UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany and the United States all suspended their extradition agreements in 2020 with the Chinese city due to concerns about how the laws would be used. 'In my view, reinstating extradition with Hong Kong is morally indefensible. The Chinese Communist Party has turned Hong Kong into a surveillance state where freedom of expression, rule of law, and basic civil liberties are systematically dismantled,' Kearns wrote on X. 'This move risks legitimizing a regime that imprisons critics, silences democracy activists, and uses extradition as a tool of persecution,' she said. Here is the letter from the Home Office. In my view, reinstating extradition with Hong Kong is morally indefensible. The Chinese Communist Party has turned Hong Kong into a surveillance state where freedom of expression, rule of law, and basic civil liberties are… — Alicia Kearns MP (@aliciakearns) July 24, 2025 Ronny Tong, a Hong Kong barrister and member of the city's executive council, told Al Jazeera that concerns about a potential extradition deal were overblown. 'Extradition is in relation to non-political criminal cases, so any fear that it'd be used to transfer persons with political crimes, eg, national security cases, is totally unfounded and only shows ignorance of the procedure,' he said. 'Furthermore, it is up to judges of the transferring state to ensure the procedure will not be abused.' He said the city was 'more than ready to restart the arrangement, as we have full confidence our judges are totally independent and of highest integrity'. Hong Kong's 2020 national security law criminalised secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign interference, and was supplemented in 2024 to include treason, sedition, theft of state secrets, espionage, sabotage, and external interference. Hong Kong's government has said the laws are necessary to protect the city from political sabotage and foreign influence, following months of pro-democracy demonstrations in 2019. Security Minister Chris Tang said in June that 326 people have been arrested under Hong Kong's national security laws since 2020. The government has also used international bounties to expand its reach to Hong Kong activists abroad, or cancelled their passports while they were overseas. The moves have been seen as largely symbolic, but also chilling for a city that was once considered the freest place in Asia. On Friday, Hong Kong issued a new list of bounties for 19 activists involved with a pro-Hong Kong democracy NGO in Canada. Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 as a 'special administrative region' and was promised special rights and freedoms until 2047, under the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
‘UK deeply committed to recognising Palestine'
DPA London British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government is 'deeply committed' to recognizing a Palestinian state, a member of his Cabinet said. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds stressed that such a move would have to be meaningful and come as part of a 'genuine move towards a two-state solution and a long-term peace settlement' with Israel. Starmer is under increasing pressure to fulfil Labour's promise to recognize Palestine. Reynolds told LBC Radio: 'We are deeply committed to the recognition of Palestine as a state, which was part of our manifesto, but obviously we want that to be meaningful. 'And we do want to see Palestine recognized. I want that to be meaningful. I want that to be working with partners, other countries around the world.' Labour's London Mayor Sadiq Khan has piled pressure on Starmer to 'immediately recognize Palestinian statehood.' He said that the UK 'must do far more to pressure the Israeli government to stop this horrific senseless killing,' as aid groups have warned of starvation in the Gaza Strip. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey called for the Royal Air Force to carry out airdrops of aid into Gaza.
Qatar Tribune
a day ago
- Qatar Tribune
Turkey to receive Eurofighter jets after Germany, UK agreements
dpa Berlin/Istanbul The German government has cleared the way for the export of Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Turkey, removing a key obstacle to a major arms deal involving the United Kingdom. German government spokesman Stefan Kornelius confirmed in Berlin on Wednesday that the Defence Ministry has sent written authorization to Ankara. The Turkish government must now decide whether to proceed with the order, he said. The move follows an earlier announcement on Wednesday by the UK and Turkey, which signed a letter of intent to advance a potential deal for the sale of 40 Eurofighters. The jets are assembled in Britain as part of a multinational consortium involving Germany, Italy and Spain, meaning all four countries must approve any export deal. The British Defence Ministry called the agreement a 'significant step forward,' saying it would bolster NATO's deterrence capabilities and support thousands of defence jobs. British Defence Secretary John Healey described the potentially multibillion-pound deal as a 'major milestone.' Turkey seeks to modernize air defence Turkey, which was ejected from the US-led F-35 fighter jet programme in 2019 after acquiring Russia's S-400 missile defence system, is seeking to diversify its defence procurement. US officials argued at the time that the S-400 could compromise sensitive F-35 stealth data and pose a security risk. The Turkish Defence Ministry told dpa on Wednesday that the planned Eurofighter purchase is not linked to the F-35 dispute, but is part of a broader strategy to modernize its air force. Analysts have noted that Ankara will need to invest in new infrastructure and training before the jets can be delivered and become operational. Export policy shift in Berlin Germany's involvement in the Eurofighter consortium had previously stalled the deal, as Berlin had not signed off on the necessary export licences. Arms deliveries to NATO partner Turkey have long been politically sensitive in Germany, due to concerns over Ankara's human rights record and foreign interventions. After Turkey's 2016 military operation in Syria, Berlin significantly scaled back arms exports.
