Pakistan national airline to resume flights to Europe after ban lifted

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's national airline will resume flights to Europe on January 10 after European Union authorities lifted a four-year ban on the carrier, the company said in a statement on Saturday.

The statement from Pakistan International Airline (PIA), which was at the centre of a pilot license scandal, said a "PIA flight will depart from Islamabad to Paris on January 10".

"Initially, two flights will be operated weekly (on Friday and Sunday), which will gradually be increased."

PIA was barred from flying to the EU in June 2020, a month after one of its aircraft plunged into a street in the southern city of Karachi, killing nearly 100 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.

The airline remains banned from operating in the United States.

After Europe's ban was lifted last week, a spokesman for the carrier said they would "strictly adhere to EASA's regulations and guidelines", referring to the European Union's aviation authority.

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.

Pakistan's government has said it is committed to privatising the debt-ridden airline and has been scrambling to find a buyer.

Last month, a deal fell through after a potential buyer reportedly offered a fraction of the asking price.

The sale was also part of IMF demands in exchange for aid programmes, including the privatisation of public companies, establishing a broader tax base and ending subsidies for the 40 per cent of Pakistanis who live below the poverty line.

In 2023, PIA had losses of $270 million according to local media.

Its liabilities were nearly $3 billion, about five times the total worth of its assets.

Last year, dozens of flights were cancelled when it could not afford fuel for its planes.

While speaking to reporters last week, Pakistan's aviation minister Khawaja Asif called the restoration of flights to Europe a "major value addition" that will make the airline more attractive to potential buyers.

PIA came into being in 1955 when the government nationalised a loss-making commercial airline and it enjoyed rapid growth until the 1990s.