{"id":5454,"date":"2026-07-02T13:41:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454"},"modified":"2026-07-02T13:41:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T13:41:31","slug":"pia-resumes-direct-lahore-manchester-flights-after-six-year-hiatus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454","title":{"rendered":"PIA resumes direct Lahore-Manchester flights after six-year hiatus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>LAHORE:<\/strong> <strong>Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Thursday resumed direct flights between Lahore and Manchester after a gap of six years, marking the restoration of another key international route.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to a PIA statement, flight <strong>PK-709<\/strong> departed from Lahore with <strong>325 passengers<\/strong> on board. An inaugural ceremony was held at Lahore airport, where PIA Chief Operating Officer <strong>Khurram Mushtaq<\/strong> bid farewell to the passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The development came hours after the first Manchester-to-Lahore flight departed from the UK on Wednesday night, officially restoring the direct air link between the two cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PIA said the revival of the Lahore-Manchester route would help strengthen <strong>people-to-people ties<\/strong> between Pakistan and the United Kingdom. With the addition of the Lahore service, the national carrier now operates <strong>five weekly flights<\/strong> between Pakistan and Manchester, including <strong>four from Islamabad<\/strong> and <strong>one from Lahore<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pakistani airlines were barred from operating flights to the <strong>European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States<\/strong> in June 2020 after a PIA plane crashed in Karachi, killing nearly 100 people. The restrictions followed safety concerns raised by the <strong>European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)<\/strong> and remarks by then aviation minister <strong>Ghulam Sarwar Khan<\/strong>, who told parliament that many pilots&#8217; licences were &#8220;dubious.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">EASA lifted its ban on PIA operations after more than four years on <strong>November 28, 2024<\/strong>. In <strong>July 2025<\/strong>, the UK removed Pakistan from its <strong>Air Safety List<\/strong>, enabling Pakistani airlines to apply for permission to operate flights to Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In <strong>September 2025<\/strong>, PIA secured approval to resume direct flights to the UK after an almost five-year suspension, with <strong>Manchester<\/strong> becoming the first destination to restart operations. Later, on <strong>January 8<\/strong>, the airline announced the resumption of direct flights to <strong>London<\/strong>, ending a six-year hiatus on that route as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LAHORE: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Thursday resumed direct flights between Lahore and Manchester after a gap of six years, marking the restoration of another key international route. According to&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5455,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[35,2482],"class_list":["post-5454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan","tag-pakistan","tag-pia-flight"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>PIA resumes direct Lahore-Manchester flights after six-year hiatus - World Watch Alert<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PIA has resumed direct flights between Lahore and Manchester after six years, with the inaugural flight carrying 325 passengers as the airline continues restoring UK operations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"PIA resumes direct Lahore-Manchester flights after six-year hiatus - World Watch Alert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PIA has resumed direct flights between Lahore and Manchester after six years, with the inaugural flight carrying 325 passengers as the airline continues restoring UK operations.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World Watch Alert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-02T13:41:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-02T13:41:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/021244541dd49fe.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?p=5454#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?p=5454\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a1cf922194712e47776dbb1e51115040\"},\"headline\":\"PIA resumes direct Lahore-Manchester flights after six-year hiatus\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T13:41:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-02T13:41:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?p=5454\"},\"wordCount\":289,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?p=5454#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/021244541dd49fe.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Pakistan\",\"PIA flight\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Pakistan\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?p=5454\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?p=5454\",\"name\":\"PIA resumes direct Lahore-Manchester flights after six-year hiatus - World Watch Alert\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?p=5454#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?p=5454#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/021244541dd49fe.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-02T13:41:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-02T13:41:31+00:00\",\"description\":\"PIA has resumed direct flights between Lahore and Manchester after six years, with the inaugural flight carrying 325 passengers as the airline continues restoring UK operations.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?p=5454#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?p=5454\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?p=5454#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/021244541dd49fe.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/021244541dd49fe.webp\",\"width\":800,\"height\":480},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?p=5454#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"PIA resumes direct Lahore-Manchester flights after six-year hiatus\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"World Watch Alert\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"World Watch Alert\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Chief-Editor-Asif-Ali-Bhatti.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Chief-Editor-Asif-Ali-Bhatti.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":350,\"caption\":\"World Watch Alert\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a1cf922194712e47776dbb1e51115040\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4c81c452db555bfe1e0e5ed315dd6b278f007d8ede7a2a3faadee052f7c23d40?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4c81c452db555bfe1e0e5ed315dd6b278f007d8ede7a2a3faadee052f7c23d40?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4c81c452db555bfe1e0e5ed315dd6b278f007d8ede7a2a3faadee052f7c23d40?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.worldwatchalert.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"PIA resumes direct Lahore-Manchester flights after six-year hiatus - World Watch Alert","description":"PIA has resumed direct flights between Lahore and Manchester after six years, with the inaugural flight carrying 325 passengers as the airline continues restoring UK operations.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"PIA resumes direct Lahore-Manchester flights after six-year hiatus - World Watch Alert","og_description":"PIA has resumed direct flights between Lahore and Manchester after six years, with the inaugural flight carrying 325 passengers as the airline continues restoring UK operations.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454","og_site_name":"World Watch Alert","article_published_time":"2026-07-02T13:41:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-02T13:41:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/021244541dd49fe.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a1cf922194712e47776dbb1e51115040"},"headline":"PIA resumes direct Lahore-Manchester flights after six-year hiatus","datePublished":"2026-07-02T13:41:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-02T13:41:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454"},"wordCount":289,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/021244541dd49fe.webp","keywords":["Pakistan","PIA flight"],"articleSection":["Pakistan"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454","url":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454","name":"PIA resumes direct Lahore-Manchester flights after six-year hiatus - World Watch Alert","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/021244541dd49fe.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-02T13:41:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-02T13:41:31+00:00","description":"PIA has resumed direct flights between Lahore and Manchester after six years, with the inaugural flight carrying 325 passengers as the airline continues restoring UK operations.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/021244541dd49fe.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/021244541dd49fe.webp","width":800,"height":480},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?p=5454#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"PIA resumes direct Lahore-Manchester flights after six-year hiatus"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/","name":"World Watch Alert","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/#organization","name":"World Watch Alert","url":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Chief-Editor-Asif-Ali-Bhatti.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Chief-Editor-Asif-Ali-Bhatti.png","width":1080,"height":350,"caption":"World Watch Alert"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a1cf922194712e47776dbb1e51115040","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4c81c452db555bfe1e0e5ed315dd6b278f007d8ede7a2a3faadee052f7c23d40?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4c81c452db555bfe1e0e5ed315dd6b278f007d8ede7a2a3faadee052f7c23d40?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4c81c452db555bfe1e0e5ed315dd6b278f007d8ede7a2a3faadee052f7c23d40?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5454"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5456,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5454\/revisions\/5456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5455"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldwatchalert.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}