Dar hopes PIA’s UK operations to resume soon

Foreign Mini­ster Ishaq Dar has said PIA flights to the UK will res­ume “in weeks, not months”, and that he took up the matter of banned flights of the national carrier with British government officials here over the weekend. Mr Dar made this anno­uncement during a brief visit to London on his ret­urn from Brussels, where he attended the First Nuclear Energy Summit. In London, Mr Dar met Andrew Mitchell, Minister of State of the United Kingdom for Development and Africa, as well as Lord Tariq Ahmad, Minister of State for the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia. He later met some MPs and Lords at an Iftar hos­ted by Pakistan High Commi­ssioner Mohammad Faisal. Sources told Dawn that the resumption of PIA flights to the UK came under discussion during the meeting, as Mr Dar urged the UK officials to review the matter. In July 2020, the UK joined several countries in suspending PIA’s flight operations due to concerns about the authenticity of pilot licences.