Britain has removed a five-year prohibition against Pakistani airlines, enabling them to seek permission to resume flights to the UK just as Islamabad intensifies the process to privatize its state-owned carrier, Pakistan International Airlines.
The prohibition came into effect in 2020, shortly after Pakistan initiated an investigation into the authenticity of pilot licenses awarded in the country after a PIA aircraft crash left 97 dead.
The British High Commission stated on Wednesday that lifting of the ban was consequent to safety measures made by Pakistani authorities. This follows a matter of months after the European Union also took the same move.
Though various private Pakistani airlines make local and regional flights, mostly to the Middle East, PIA has been the sole airline to have long-haul flights to Britain and the European Union previously.
PIA had initially put the annual loss of revenue from the ban at about 40 billion rupees ($144 million). The airline has always ranked UK routes, such as London, Manchester, and Birmingham, among its most profitable, and possesses prime landing slots at London's Heathrow Airport that could be used again.
PIA's representative stated that the airline was making final arrangements to restart UK flights "in the shortest possible time" and had lodged its planned schedule.
Flights would come back with the Islamabad-Manchester route, three weekly flights initially planned subject to schedule approval, the representative further added.
In early this month, Pakistan cleared four groups to bid for 51-100% stake in PIA. Final bids will follow later this year.
The government is expecting recent reforms, which resulted in the carrier's first operating profit in 21 years to bring buyers under a wider IMF-backed privatisation initiative.
Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif addressed a media conference on Wednesday that reinstating all routes would enhance PIA's worth before the privatisation. He also confirmed there were plans to resume flights to New York.
