British Airways started operations in Pakistan on Monday (June 03) again after a gap of 10 years due to security concerns. The carrier landed its flight in Islamabad after 2008.
British Airways has stopped services to the country after the deadly and terrible attack on the Marriott Hotel. The incident took place back in 2008. At that time BA had six-weekly flights from Islamabad to London. After a decade-long wait, the carrier has resumed services from London Heathrow airport to the capital of Pakistan, Islamabad, three times a week.
British High Commissioner to Pakistan, Thomas Drew stated: “Britain’s flag carrier is back.” Drew said that the two countries will get a chance to grow closer with this reopening of airways between the two countries. Over a million people of Pakistani origin call Britain their home, which makes the country the largest Pakistani diaspora in Europe.
Before British Airways started its operations back between the two countries, Pakistan International Airlines or PIA which happens to be the flag carrier of the country was the only airline in the country that conducted flights to London.
Since the Marriott attack, Pakistan has been predominantly dependent on Middle Eastern airlines, for instance, Emirates and Etihad, most of their flights pass through the Gulf. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific was one of the last remaining major international airlines to have stopped operations in Pakistan after multiple people were killed during a 2014 siege at Karachi airport by Taliban militants.
British Airways’s return to Pakistan comes at a time when Pakistan restricts a large number of eastern air-traffic after a confrontation with India in February, which closes off all major international flight routes to and from Islamabad and Lahore. The restrictions will likely continue till June 15, as per media reports.
