Business Desk 
Jan 30, 2025
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has resumed eight international flight routes in the past six months, Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif informed the Senate on Tuesday.
The restored flight routes include Paris, Sharjah, Al Ain, Muscat, Jeddah, Madinah, and Kuwait, reconnecting Pakistani with major international destinations.
These PIA international flights will help improve connectivity for passengers travelling from Pakistan to the Middle East and Europe. The airline aims to strengthen its global operations and attract more passengers by restoring key routes.
PIA restores eight international routes
During the session, the defence minister said the Islamabad-Paris-Islamabad route was reopened after a standstill of over four years. The flights are now operated using Boeing 777 aircraft.
Similarly, flights from Turbat to Sharjah and Turbat to Al Ain were resumed after four and five months, respectively, with ATR aircraft handling these operations.
Another notable resumption was the Gwadar-Muscat-Gwadar route, which was restarted after 13 months. The Quetta-Jeddah-Quetta route, which had been inactive for three years and four months, is now operational again, using Airbus A320 aircraft.
Likewise, flights from Faisalabad to Jeddah and Faisalabad to Madinah were revived after the same duration, also operated by Airbus A320 aircraft. The Lahore-Kuwait-Lahore route, which had been suspended for seven months, is now functional again with Airbus A320 planes.
