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ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will scale back operations to France by suspending its Lahore–Paris flights in mid-September, a PIA spokesperson said on Monday, adding the move is linked to planned resumption of services to the United Kingdom (UK).

PIA resumed flights to Europe in January after a four-and-a-half-year ban on the airline was lifted by European regulators. The airline began two weekly flights between Lahore and Paris on June 18.

PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez told Arab News the last Paris–Lahore flight will operate on Sept. 12, while the final Lahore–Paris flight will depart from the country on Sept. 17.

“The Lahore–Paris route is not being permanently closed but has been temporarily suspended to prioritize operations to the United Kingdom (UK) as passenger demand is currently low during the lean season,” Hafeez said, adding the airline is expected to resume UK flight operations by mid-October.

Debt-ridden PIA was banned in June 2020 from flying to the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom and the United States, a month after one of its Airbus A-320s plunged into a residential neighborhood in Karachi, killing nearly 100 people.

The disaster was attributed to human error by the pilots and air traffic control and was followed by allegations that nearly a third of the PIA pilot licenses were fake or dubious.

In Nov. last year, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) announced lifting the ban on PIA, while the UK removed Pakistan from its ‘Air Safety List’ on July 16, paving the way for Pakistani airlines to apply for permits to resume UK flights.

“Resumption of the flights to the UK is dependent on TCO (Third-Country Operator) authorization, which is expected by mid-September,” Hafeez said.

A TCO authorization is a safety certificate issued by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to non-UK airlines, permitting them to operate commercial flights to, from, or within the UK.

The PIA spokesperson said services on the Lahore–Paris route are expected to resume again in Nov. this year when travel typically peaks, with Pakistani diaspora flying into the country during the Christmas holidays.

Arab News reached out to Pakistan’s Privatization Commission for comment on the impact of the PIA route suspension but received no response by the time of filing of this story.

PIA spokesperson Hafeez, however, said the privatization process “depends more on financial performance and annual revenue forecasts than on the status of individual routes.”

Pakistan has been seeking to sell a 51-100 percent stake in the struggling national airline to raise funds and reform cash-draining, state-owned enterprises as envisaged under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund program. The airline has been one of the government’s most costly liabilities, which has accumulated over $2.5 billion in losses in roughly a decade and been surviving on repeated bailouts that have weighed heavily on Pakistan’s strained budget.

In July, Pakistan prequalified four investors for the sale of PIA. Among the bidding groups, one is a consortium of major industrial firms Lucky Cement, Hub Power Holdings, Kohat Cement and Metro Ventures. Another is led by investment firm Arif Habib Corp. and includes fertilizer producer Fatima Fertilizer, private education operator The City School, and real estate firm Lake City Holdings. Additionally, Fauji Fertilizer Company, a military-backed conglomerate, and Pakistani airline Airblue, have been approved to bid for PIA.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday presented a seven-point plan before the OIC to end Israel’s war in Gaza and achieve lasting peace in Palestine, urging Muslim countries to take “concrete measures” rather than issue statements of sympathy.

Dar was speaking at the 21st Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, being held from Aug. 25-26, against the backdrop of Israel intensifying its military operations in Gaza. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approved a plan for the territory’s full military occupation, a move that has drawn international condemnation and warnings it would worsen an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis.

Addressing the gathering, Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar accused Israel of “systematic, premeditated and deliberate” violations of international law, highlighting that over 60,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, had been killed since Oct. 7, 2023, when Israel launched its onslaught. He described attacks on hospitals, schools, UN facilities, aid convoys and refugee camps as “wanton acts of collective punishment in full world view.”

Dar said the Palestinian question was a “litmus test” for the credibility of the global “rules-based order” and laid out seven steps that Pakistan to end the violence and achieve peace.

“First, an immediate, permanent and unconditional ceasefire across Gaza and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2735,” Dar said. 

“Second, unfettered, sustained and secure humanitarian access to all civilians in need, and the protection of aid workers, medical teams and the UN personnel. Pakistan has continued a steady dispatch of humanitarian goods for our brothers and sisters in Gaza.”

Pakistan’s third step called for “renewed and reinforced international support to UNRWA, which remains indispensable to the survival of millions of Palestinians.” The fourth step was an end to forced displacement, settlement expansion and annexation of Palestinian land, particularly in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. 

Dar warned that “Israel’s declared intent to occupy Gaza city would be a deliberate attempt to obliterate Palestinian existence and heritage. It must be firmly opposed.”

Dar added that the plan also called for the implementation of an Arab and OIC-led reconstruction program for Gaza, the revival of a time-bound political process for a two-state solution and accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

He warned against “the brazen audacity of the so-called Israeli cabinet in unveiling its ominous plan to extend Israel’s full military control over Gaza as well as the Israeli prime minister’s recent allusion to the creation of a ‘Greater Israel,’” saying it revealed Israel’s “annexationist and rogue mindset.”

“We joined the statement issued by the Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee, along with other countries, in expressing strong condemnation and categorical rejection of the Israeli announcement, denouncing it as an unacceptable escalation and a brazen attempt to entrench illegal occupation by coercion,” the Pakistani deputy PM said.

Calling the crisis “a defining moment for the Muslim Ummah,” he added: 

“History will not judge us by our words but by our actions. The Palestinian people do not seek statements of sympathy; they need concrete measures to end their suffering and secure their liberation from Israeli occupation. The OIC must rise to this challenge with unity, resolve, and purpose.”