PIA Boosts Weekly London Flights From Four To Seven

Key Points

• Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will start routing seven flights weekly to London from 27 October.
• According to the updated plan, there will be five flights from Islamabad and two from Lahore to London.
• The expansion is due to increased traffic demand on the route and passengers’ confidence, PIA said.
• In connection with an air accident in Karachi on 26 June 2020, which resulted in the death of almost 100 people on a PIA flight, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States banned the airline from flying into their countries.
• Then aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan had declared that PIA’s pilots’ licences were “dubious”, and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency had restricted PIA from flying in EU nations over safety concerns.
• On 28 November 2024, the European agency lifted its ban on PIA for over four years.
• In July 2025, the United Kingdom lifted its ban on Pakistan and allowed Pakistani airlines to submit applications to fly to the country.
• In September 2025, PIA was permitted to resume direct flights to the UK from Manchester.
• PIA restarted direct flights to London in March this year.

Islamabad (Britain Today News) September 02, 2026 – Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) announced on Wednesday that it will increase its weekly flights to London from four to seven, starting 27 October, as the national carrier continues to expand its footprint on the United Kingdom route following years of restrictions. Under the revised schedule, five flights will depart from Islamabad while two will operate on the Lahore-London route, the airline said in a statement carried by Dawn.com. The move marks the latest step in PIA’s gradual return to European skies after a near five-year suspension that had grounded its operations across the continent, the UK and the United States.

What Has PIA Announced About Its London Flights?

PIA confirmed that it would nearly double its weekly capacity to London, moving from four flights a week to seven. The airline said in its statement,

“The increase in the number of flights reflects passenger confidence and rising demand.”

The announcement represents one of the most significant expansions PIA has made on the London route since resuming European operations, and it signals the carrier’s intent to capture a larger share of traffic between Pakistan and Britain.

When Will the New Flight Schedule Take Effect?

According to the airline’s statement, the expanded schedule will come into force on 27 October. This date falls within the winter flight schedule window typically adopted by international carriers, when airlines revise their route networks and frequencies ahead of the colder months. PIA has not indicated whether further increases are planned beyond this date, but the timing suggests the airline is positioning itself to capture demand during the busy end-of-year travel period, when overseas Pakistanis frequently return home or travel abroad to visit family.

How Will The Seven Weekly Flights Be Distributed Between Islamabad and Lahore?

The airline’s statement set out a clear breakdown of the new schedule. Of the seven weekly flights, five will depart from Islamabad, while the remaining two will operate from Lahore. This distribution reflects Islamabad’s position as PIA’s primary hub for long-haul international connections, while Lahore, one of Pakistan’s largest cities and home to a substantial diaspora community in Britain, will retain a meaningful share of direct capacity to London.

Why Did PIA Decide To Increase Its London Flights?

PIA attributed the decision directly to growing customer demand and improving traveller sentiment towards the airline. PIA said:

“The increase in the number of flights reflects passenger confidence and rising demand.”

The choice of wording suggests the airline views the expansion not merely as a commercial calculation but as evidence that public trust in PIA has been recovering since its return to the UK market.

What Did The PIA Statement Say About Passenger Confidence?

The core justification offered by PIA for the expansion centres on passenger confidence. The airline’s own words, as reported by Dawn.com, were unambiguous:

“The increase in the number of flights reflects passenger confidence and rising demand.”

This statement was the only public comment issued by the airline alongside the announcement, and it was not accompanied by additional remarks from PIA officials or government representatives at the time of publication.

Why Were PIA Flights Banned From The EU, UK And US In 2020?

To understand the significance of Wednesday’s announcement, it is necessary to revisit the events of 2020. Pakistani flights, including those operated by PIA, were banned from flying to the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States in June 2020. The ban followed one of the darkest chapters in the airline’s history: a PIA aircraft crashed in Karachi, killing nearly 100 people on board. The tragedy triggered intense scrutiny of Pakistan’s aviation regulatory framework and the credentials of its pilots.

What Role Did The European Union Aviation Safety Agency Play In The Ban?

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency barred PIA from operating in EU countries over safety concerns in the aftermath of the crash. The regulator’s decision was directly linked to revelations about pilot licensing standards in Pakistan, which raised serious questions about the industry’s oversight mechanisms at the time.
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What Did Former Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan Say About Pilots’ Licences?

The ban on flights followed a statement by then-aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan on the floor of parliament, in which he described pilots’ licences as “dubious.” This remark, made in the wake of the Karachi crash investigation, had far-reaching consequences for PIA and the broader Pakistani aviation sector, effectively cutting off the national carrier from some of its most important international markets for years.

When Did The European Union Lift Its Ban On PIA?

The European agency lifted the ban after more than four years, on 28 November 2024. The decision to restore PIA’s access to EU airspace followed sustained efforts by Pakistani aviation authorities to address the safety concerns that had prompted the original suspension, and it marked the first breakthrough in PIA’s campaign to rebuild its European network.

When Did The UK Remove Pakistan From Its Air Safety List?

In July 2025, the United Kingdom also removed Pakistan from its Air Safety List. This step allowed Pakistani airlines, including PIA, to apply to operate flights into Britain once again, paving the way for the carrier’s eventual return to the UK market after years of exclusion.

When Did PIA Resume Direct Flights To The United Kingdom?

In September 2025, PIA received approval to resume direct flights to the UK after a gap of nearly five years. The airline subsequently restarted operations, with Manchester becoming the first destination to be served under the renewed arrangement, representing PIA’s initial re-entry point into the British aviation market.

When Did PIA Resume Direct Flights To London?

Building on the Manchester relaunch, PIA resumed direct flights to London in March this year. The restoration of the London route was widely regarded as a milestone for the airline, given the British capital’s status as one of the most important destinations for Pakistani travellers and the wider diaspora community based in the UK.

What Does The Expansion Mean For PIA’s Recovery?

Wednesday’s announcement of an increase from four to seven weekly flights builds directly on the momentum generated by the Manchester and London relaunches. Having secured regulatory clearance from both the European Union and the United Kingdom, and having successfully re-established a foothold on the London route earlier this year, PIA now appears to be moving into a phase of consolidation and growth on its UK network. The airline’s own explanation — that the expansion reflects passenger confidence and rising demand — indicates that management sees the London route as a proving ground for the carrier’s broader efforts to rebuild its international reputation following the 2020 crash and the subsequent years of restricted access to major Western markets.

The expansion also arrives at a point when PIA’s route network to Britain has been steadily rebuilt piece by piece: first through the restoration of European access via the EASA decision in November 2024, then through the removal of Pakistan from the UK’s Air Safety List in July 2025, followed by the resumption of flights to Manchester in September 2025, and finally the return to London in March. Wednesday’s announcement represents the next logical step in that sequence, expanding capacity on a route the airline has only recently been able to operate again after a suspension lasting nearly five years.

For passengers, the shift from four to seven weekly flights effectively brings PIA closer to offering daily connectivity between Pakistan and London, a level of service the airline has not consistently provided since before the 2020 ban. The five-flights-a-week allocation from Islamabad reflects the city’s role as PIA’s principal international gateway, while the doubling of Lahore’s frequency to two weekly flights ensures that passengers from Punjab’s largest city continue to have direct access to the British capital without needing to connect through Islamabad.

As PIA continues to navigate its post-ban recovery, the London expansion stands as one of the clearest indicators yet of the airline’s ambitions to restore its standing on long-haul international routes. Whether the increased frequency translates into sustained commercial success will depend on continued demand from passengers and the airline’s ability to maintain the safety and operational standards required to keep its European and UK route rights intact.