British Airways resumes flights to Pakistan after more than a decade

British Airways resumes flights to Pakistan after more than a decade
A British Airways aircraft taxies on a runway with the Pakistani (L) and Union Jack flags upon landing at the Islamabad International Airport on June 3, 2019. (AFP)
Updated 05 June 2019
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British Airways resumes flights to Pakistan after more than a decade

British Airways resumes flights to Pakistan after more than a decade
  • The airlines had suspended operations after a deadly bombing at a luxury hotel in Islamabad
  • Prime Minister Khan says the development will help promote tourism in the country

ISLAMABAD: British Airways resumed its flight operations to Pakistan on Monday, bringing 240 passengers from London in a Boeing 787 that touched down in Islamabad at 9:15am this morning.
The airlines had suspended its operation for a little more than a decade after a deadly bombing at a luxury hotel in Islamabad in September 2008.
Pakistan’s prominent government functionaries went to the newly constructed Islamabad airport to welcome the passengers.
“It gives me great pleasure to announce that British Airways has exhibited its confidence in Pakistan’s prevailing security environment and decided to resume its operations in the country,” said the aviation minister, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, while addressing a news conference here on Monday.
He continued that the government wanted to turn Islamabad into a central destination in the region, adding he hoped that other important global airlines would also initiate their operations in Pakistan.
Later, British Airways chief operating officer, Andrew Brem, also met with Prime Minister Imran Khan at his office in Islamabad.
Khan said that the resumption of the airlines’ flights to Pakistan would help tourism sector in the country and send positive signal to those who wanted to trade with or invest in his country.