Pakistan International Airlines to suspend Lahore – Paris flights as it prepares for UK return
August 27, 2025
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is to halt its recently reinstated Lahore–Paris flights next month, only two months after the route was launched, as the carrier shifts resources toward a planned resumption of services to the United Kingdom.
The flag carrier restarted European operations in January after the lifting of a four-and-a-half-year ban imposed by regulators in the wake of the 2020 Karachi crash. The first services linked Islamabad and Paris.
PIA suspends Paris flights two months after launch
Twice-weekly flights from Lahore to Paris began in June but will be suspended from mid-September, the airline said.
PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez said the final Paris–Lahore flight will depart on 12 September, with the last service from Lahore operating on 17 September.
Flights from Islamabad to Paris will continue unaffected.
“The Lahore–Paris route is not being permanently closed but has been temporarily suspended to prioritise operations to the UK as passenger demand is currently low during the lean season,” Hafeez told Arab News.
The carrier is waiting on Third-Country Operator (TCO) authorisation from the UK Civil Aviation Authority before flights can restart.
“Resumption of the flights to the UK is dependent on TCO authorisation, which is expected by mid-September,” Hafeez said.
The ban on PIA in 2020 by the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States followed a fatal Airbus A320 accident in Karachi that killed almost 100 people.
Subsequent investigations highlighted pilot error and shortcomings in air traffic control, and the airline was further undermined by revelations that a significant number of pilot licences were not verified as genuine.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency lifted its restrictions in November 2024, while the UK removed Pakistan from its Air Safety List in July 2025, allowing Pakistani airlines to apply for operating permits once again.
Large Pakistani diaspora in the UK
For PIA, the UK is a large diaspora market. Britain is home to one of the largest Pakistani communities in Europe, with more than 1.5 million people of Pakistani origin residing in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The community has historically provided strong demand for direct links between major UK cities such as London, Manchester, Birmingham and PIA’s hubs in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi.
Before the 2020 ban, the airline maintained long-standing operations to Heathrow, Manchester, Leeds-Bradford, Glasgow, and Birmingham, often competing with British Airways and Middle Eastern carriers for traffic.
The suspension of direct flights over the past four years forced many passengers to rely on connecting services through Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Istanbul, often at higher costs and longer journey times.
A return to the UK market will provide PIA with both a new revenue stream from Western European travellers as well as an opportunity to regain brand visibility among the diaspora.
Analysts note, however, that the airline will need to rebuild trust and reliability after a tricky four years during which time the spotlight has firmly been on PIA’s safety record.
The suspension comes against the backdrop of the government’s effort to privatise the national airline.
PIA has amassed more than $2.5 billion in losses over the past decade, surviving on repeated bailouts. However, at the end of 2024, the airline logged its first annual profit in over 20 years.
