By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines Corp. will start flying nonstop between Islamabad and Birmingham, England, three times a week from Dec. 1, the latest step in the newly privatized carrier’s effort to rebuild its UK network after a five-year ban.
The flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with Boeing 777 aircraft listed for the route. A PIA spokesperson said the service will give a large number of Pakistanis living in the northern and central regions of the UK the convenience of direct air travel.
Birmingham Airport confirmed the launch in a post on X, citing strong demand from travellers in the Midlands. It said more than 320,000 people of Pakistani heritage live in the West Midlands, and it expects the route to appeal strongly to the visiting-friends-and-relatives market, which accounts for a large share of travel between the UK and Pakistan.
The UK is a “highly significant” market for PIA, the spokesperson said, adding that the carrier aims to raise its total weekly flights between Pakistan and Britain to 23. It now operates more than 10 weekly services to the UK. The airline, which flies to more than 25 international destinations including Dubai, Beijing and Riyadh, according to its website, has been adding capacity on the route steadily.
PIA lifted its London schedule to seven weekly flights from Oct. 27, five from Islamabad and two from Lahore. The spokesperson said at the time that the increase reflected growing passenger demand and confidence in the national carrier. The airline had returned to London in March after a six-year gap, starting with four weekly flights from Islamabad. It resumed UK operations in October 2025 with two weekly flights to Manchester.
The expansion follows years of restrictions that cut PIA off from some of its most lucrative routes. A PIA Airbus A320 crashed into a residential area of Karachi in May 2020, killing 97 people. The crash was blamed on human error and was followed by allegations of irregularities in pilot licensing, prompting bans from Britain, the European Union and the US.
The EU lifted its ban in late 2024, and PIA resumed European flights with a service to Paris on Jan. 10, 2025. Britain eased restrictions on Pakistani carriers in July 2025 after concluding that aviation safety standards were “satisfactory and in line with international norms.” PIA remains barred from flying to the US.
The route launch comes as the airline adjusts to private ownership. A consortium led by Arif Habib Corp. won a 75% stake in an auction in December 2025 with a bid of 135 billion rupees (about $480 million), in what was Pakistan’s first major privatization in almost two decades. Lucky Cement Ltd.’s group had been the runner-up with a bid of 134 billion rupees. The sale was part of efforts tied to the International Monetary Fund.
Pakistan sold PIA in December 2025, when a consortium led by Arif Habib Corp. agreed to buy a 75% stake for 135 billion rupees ($482 million). The price valued the airline at 180 billion rupees. The carrier had accumulated more than $2.8 billion in losses before the sale. The consortium took over management in June through PIA Equity Ltd. Its total investment commitment is 180 billion rupees, made up of 125 billion rupees in fresh capital and 55 billion rupees payable to the government. A second closing came three months later, when the group injected a further 45 billion rupees to acquire the remaining 25%.
The first additions arrived this weekend. PIA’s first Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner landed in Islamabad on Sunday on flight PK-786 from London Heathrow. It is leased from Norway’s Norse Atlantic Airways under a wet-lease arrangement, in which Norse supplies the crew and remains responsible for maintenance and insurance. The two-jet agreement was signed on Oct. 9 and is meant to expand direct service between Pakistan and the UK
PIA will face new competition on UK routes. Norse Atlantic Airways was cleared in January to launch direct services to Islamabad from the UK, starting with London, with Manchester and Birmingham planned to follow.
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