Pakistanis living in the Midlands and northern England will soon have a direct link home again: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will launch three weekly direct flights between Islamabad and Birmingham from December 1. According to a PIA spokesperson, the flights will initially operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The spokesperson said on Wednesday that the UK was an important destination for the airline, which aims to raise the total number of weekly flights between Pakistan and the UK to 23. Birmingham Airport also announced PIA's return, saying the direct service was resuming because of high demand from travellers in the Midlands.
In September, PIA decided to expand its London operations, raising weekly flights to seven from October 27: five between Islamabad and London and two between Lahore and London.
PIA was barred from flying to the UK, the European Union and the United States in June 2020, a month after one of its Airbus A320 aircraft crashed into a Karachi neighbourhood, killing nearly 100 people. Britain lifted restrictions on Pakistani carriers in July 2025, and PIA resumed direct UK flights in October last year.