The British Security Committee would have planned a meeting for March 12, 2025 to examine the resumption of direct flights from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to the United Kingdom.
During this meeting, the Committee will assess the resumption of PIA flights. The British Civil Aviation Authority and the Department for Transport (DFT) will present the latest audit reports of PIA and the Pakistani civil aviation, sources told Express News.
If the British security committee approves, PIA will resume direct flights to the United Kingdom. The airline is prohibited to operate flights to the United Kingdom since July 2020.
The management of the PIA hopes to restore the flights to the United Kingdom following the successful resumption of operations in European countries, reveal sources.
Photo: UK Flight Safety Committee
The airline management has already designed a plan to start flights to London, Manchester and Birmingham immediately after receiving approval.
A team from the PIA of two members has recently returned to Pakistan after examining preparations for flight operations in the United Kingdom.
A month ago, PIA resumed its operations in Europe on Friday with a flight leaving for Paris.
The first flight, PK-749, took off from Islamabad International Airport (IAP) on Friday at 12:10 p.m., using a Boeing 777 plane (AP-BGK). The flight carried 330 passengers and 14 crew members.
Meanwhile, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) team of the United States is expected to visit Pakistan in March to assess the feasibility of resuming direct flights between Pakistan and the United States.
In preparation for the visit, Islamabad has already paid the costs required of $ 75,000, sources revealed.
Direct flights from Pakistan in the United States to be suspended in 2017 and the efforts to restore it were faced with reverse ones due to the Pandemic COVID-19 and the PIA 2020 plane crash in Karachi.
Following the banning of the European Union on the national carrier, the FAA demoted the Pakistan aerior security rating from category CA1 to CA2 category, further delaying the resumption of flights.
