Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is preparing to resume flights to Manchester after the UK lifted a five-year ban on Pakistani carriers on Wednesday.
The ban was imposed by the Department for Transport in 2020 after an investigation into a fatal crash in Karachi revealed Pakistan’s lax checks on pilot licences.
A European ban on Pakistani airlines, also imposed in 2020, was lifted earlier this year, and PIA has since resumed flights to the continent.
A PIA spokesperson said it will return to the UK ‘in the shortest possible time’, starting with a three-times-a-week service between Manchester and Islamabad.
The airline also previously operated flights to London Heathrow and Birmingham.
Meanwhile, a start-up carrier, HB International Airlines, has signalled its intention to launch flights between Manchester and Birmingham and Islamabad as a joint venture with Norse Atlantic.
Norse Atlantic has not confirmed the partnership and the Civil Aviation Authority told Travel Gossip that HB International has yet to apply for a licence to operate the flights.
