ISLAMABAD, Dec 7, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Pakistan's beleaguered national airline
will resume flights to Europe on January 10 after European Union authorities
lifted a four-year ban on the carrier, the company said in a statement on
Saturday.

The statement from Pakistan International Airline (PIA), which was at the
centre of a pilot license scandal, said a "PIA flight will depart from
Islamabad to Paris on January 10".

"Initially, two flights will be operated weekly (on Friday and Sunday), which
will gradually be increased."

PIA was barred from flying to the EU in June 2020, a month after one of its
aircraft plunged into a street in the southern city of Karachi, killing
nearly 100 people.

The disaster was attributed to human error by the pilots and air traffic
control, and was followed by allegations that nearly a third of the licences
for its pilots were fake or dubious.

The airline remains banned from operating in the United States.

After Europe's ban was lifted last week, a spokesman for the carrier said
they would "strictly adhere to EASA's regulations and guidelines", referring
to the European Union's aviation authority.

PIA, which employs 7,000 people, has long been accused of being bloated and
poorly run -- hobbled by unpaid bills, a poor safety record and regulatory
issues.

Pakistan's government has said it is committed to privatising the debt-ridden
airline and has been scrambling to find a buyer.

Last month, a deal fell through after a potential buyer reportedly offered a
fraction of the asking price.

The sale was also part of IMF demands in exchange for aid programmes,
including the privatisation of public companies, establishing a broader tax
base and ending subsidies for the 40 percent of Pakistanis who live below the
poverty line.

In 2023, PIA had losses of $270 million according to local media.

Its liabilities were nearly $3 billion, about five times the total worth of
its assets.

Last year, dozens of flights were cancelled when it could not afford fuel for
its planes.

While speaking to reporters last week, Pakistan's aviation minister Khawaja
Asif called the restoration of flights to Europe a "major value addition"
that will make the airline more attractive to potential buyers.

PIA came into being in 1955 when the government nationalised a loss-making
commercial airline and it enjoyed rapid growth until the 1990s.