A ban has been lifted on Pakistani carriers operating flights to the UK, following improvements in Pakistan’s aviation safety standards, just over five years after the ban was first imposed.
The British High Commission in Pakistan stated that the decision to lift the ban was made by the UK Air Safety Board. Pakistani airlines are now eligible to apply for flight operations to the UK, subject to obtaining the necessary approvals from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The UK’s Air Safety Committee imposed a ban in 2020, after Pakistan’s aviation minister disclosed that nearly one-third of the country’s pilots had cheated on their licensing exams. The claim came after a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) crash killed 97 people in May 2020.
There is over 1.6 million people of Pakistani heritage living in the UK, with thousands of British nationals living in Pakistan. Prior to the ban, PIA operated routes from Pakistan to London, Manchester and Birmingham.
“After a sustained, independent, and technically driven process, the UK’s Air Safety Committee has lifted its restrictions on Pakistani carriers. It will take time for flights to resume, but this is an important step,” said Jane Marriott, the UK’s High Commissioner to Pakistan.
This follows similar action made by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in November of last year, after the regulator lifted a ban on PIA operating flights to Europe.
The Pakistani flag carrier was originally banned from flying into Europe in July 2020 by the ESEA, after it was disclosed that 262 pilots in Pakistan were found to obtain fraudulent or dubious licenses, 141 of those pilots worked for PIA.
However, by December 2020, PIA reported that 110 of these pilots were cleared of any wrongdoing after a thorough review. Licenses of 15 pilots were cancelled, while another 14 were deemed medically unfit to fly.
The airline resumed flights to Europe on January 10, 2025, with a service to Paris.