Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has restarted its direct flights from Lahore to Manchester on Thursday, becoming the latest move in the airline’s efforts to resume direct flights into the UK after a six-year hiatus.
This flight, PK-709, took off from Lahore with 325 passengers.
The inauguration ceremony took place at Allama Iqbal International Airport where the head of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Chief Operating Officer (COO) Khurram Mushtaq met the passengers and officially waved them off.
The development came after the launch of the first flight between Manchester and Lahore leaving from the UK on Wednesday night, which marks a complete revival of the route in both directions.
The restoration of direct flights would make it easier for passengers and help strengthen people-to-people ties between the UK and Pakistan, PIA said in a statement.
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The airline is also adding a weekly flight to Lahore with the addition of the Lahore service, the airline now has five weekly flights between Islamabad and Manchester, of which four flights are from Islamabad and one flight is from Lahore.
The route was suspended in 2020 after Pakistani airlines were denied permission to fly in the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States after a PIA aircraft crashed in Karachi, killing nearly 100 people.
The restrictions were tightened further, following the then aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan’s revelation in parliament that Pakistan had a lot of “dubious” pilots, who had held licences, and which led to concern over safety standards by international aviation authorities.
However slowly with time, the restrictions have been eased over the past two years.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency lifted its ban on PIA in November 2024, and the United Kingdom lifted Pakistan off from Air Safety List in July 2025 for PIA to resume services.
Later in the year, PIA resumed operations to the UK, and Manchester was the first place to receive the service.
The airline also flew direct to London for the first time this year after a gap of six years.
