Pakistan International Airlines will expand its London operation to seven weekly flights from October 27, 2026, giving the national carrier a daily service between Pakistan and the British capital.
PIA announced the schedule increase on Wednesday, September 2. The airline currently operates four flights each week to London, including three from Islamabad and one from Lahore.
Seven weekly flights planned
Under the revised schedule, PIA will operate five weekly flights between Islamabad and London. It will also run two flights a week between Lahore and London. Together, the services will provide one PIA departure from Pakistan to London every day.
A PIA spokesperson said the expanded operation followed a positive response since the airline returned to the London market earlier this year.
“The increase in the number of flights reflects passengers’ confidence and growing demand,” the spokesperson said.
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The decision will add three weekly services to the current schedule. Islamabad will gain two additional flights, while the Lahore route will increase from one to two weekly services.
The expansion will raise weekly capacity substantially ahead of the winter travel season.
PIA has not yet released the operating days, departure times or detailed flight numbers for all seven services. Passengers should therefore confirm the final timetable through the airline before booking travel from October 27.
London network rebuilt after six-year gap
PIA restored direct flights between Islamabad and London Heathrow on March 29, 2026. Direct Lahore-London service followed on March 30. The airline deployed Boeing 777 aircraft on both routes.
The launches ended an absence of almost six years from Heathrow. Britain and the European Union had restricted PIA operations in 2020 amid concerns about Pakistan’s aviation safety oversight and pilot licensing.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency lifted its suspension in November 2024 after reviewing reforms undertaken by Pakistani authorities. Britain removed Pakistan from its Air Safety List on July 16, 2025.
PIA first returned to Britain through its Islamabad-Manchester service in October 2025. The carrier then rebuilt access to Heathrow with three Islamabad flights and one Lahore flight each week in March 2026.
Strong demand on Pakistan-UK routes
The additional London capacity targets a large travel market driven by family visits, business journeys and Pakistan’s substantial diaspora in Britain.
Aviation Week, citing Sabre Market Intelligence, reported that Pakistan-UK traffic reached 1.46 million two-way passengers in 2024. That total stood nearly 9 percent above the 2019 level, despite the absence of PIA from the market.
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Around 97 percent of those travellers used connecting services through hubs such as Doha, Dubai and Istanbul. London-Islamabad ranked as the largest city pair, carrying about 299,000 passengers during 2024.
The new schedule will give travellers more direct options and reduce reliance on connecting airlines. It also strengthens PIA’s position on a route that ranked among its most commercially important international markets before the 2020 suspension.
