Pakistan-UK direct flights soon as airlines removed from air safety list

Dubai: The United Kingdom has officially removed Pakistan from its Air Safety List, allowing Pakistani airlines, including the PIA, to apply for permission to operate direct flights to the UK for the first time in nearly four years.

The announcement, made on Wednesday by the UK’s Air Safety Committee, followed a thorough review of Pakistan’s aviation standards and sustained technical cooperation with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA). The move comes after years of collaborative work aimed at restoring international confidence in Pakistan’s aviation safety protocols.

Pakistan was placed on the UK’s Air Safety List in 2021, following revealations in 2020 that a number of commercial pilots were operating with dubious or fake licences. The scandal, disclosed by then-aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan in the aftermath of the PIA Airbus A320 crash in Karachi, led to international bans and intense scrutiny of the country’s aviation oversight.

What next

Although Pakistani carriers are now eligible to apply for UK flight operations, they must still undergo a separate approval process with the UK Civil Aviation Authority before services can resume.

British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Jane Marriott, welcomed the development and praised the joint efforts that led to the decision.

“I’m grateful to aviation experts in the UK and Pakistan for their collaborative work to meet international safety standards. While flights won’t resume overnight, I look forward to flying with a Pakistani airline once services restart,” she said.

Big relief

The decision is expected to greatly benefit the estimated 1.6 million British residents of Pakistani origin, improving travel options and fostering people-to-people ties. It also holds promise for boosting bilateral trade, which currently stands at £4.7 billion, with the UK ranking as Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner.