ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan International Airlines will fly directly between Islamabad and Birmingham from December 1, with three flights a week, the airline and Birmingham Airport have said. The route brings PIA back to the airport as it rebuilds its UK network.
A PIA spokesperson said the flights would initially run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Birmingham Airport says tickets are on sale, and the route will be flown with a Boeing 777.
“The resumption of Pakistan International Airlines’ direct flights between Birmingham and Islamabad is an important step in restoring PIA’s UK network and strengthening air links between Pakistan and the United Kingdom,” said PIA chief executive Adrian Hamilton-Manns.
Why Birmingham
Birmingham Airport cited high demand from travellers in the Midlands. It said more than 320,000 people of Pakistani heritage live in the West Midlands, and that more than 178,000 passengers travelled between Birmingham and Pakistan on indirect flights in 2025. It expects the route to be especially popular with people visiting friends and relatives.
A growing UK schedule
The spokesperson said the UK was an important destination and that PIA aimed to reach 23 weekly flights between Pakistan and Britain. It raised its London service to seven flights a week from October 27, five from Islamabad and two from Lahore. Officials told a National Assembly committee this week that Manchester is also expected, and that Karachi-London flights are scheduled to begin in March 2027.
PIA returned to Britain in October last year, after the UK lifted restrictions on Pakistani carriers in July 2025 that had been in place since 2020. The airline, privatised this year, has also just taken delivery of the first of two leased Dreamliners, a Boeing 787-9 from Norse Atlantic.
