ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has renewed efforts to restore direct flights to the United States (US), the Pakistani interior ministry said on Friday, following talks between both sides in Islamabad.
The US, United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) banned the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), privatized in Dec., after a deadly PIA Airbus A-320 crash in a residential neighborhood in Karachi in May 2020.
The disaster, which killed nearly 100 people, was attributed to human error by the pilots and air traffic control and was followed by allegations that nearly a third of PIA pilot licenses were fake or dubious.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi discussed the resumption of PIA flights to the US at a meeting with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Paul Kapoor.
“We want an early start of direct flights between Pakistan and the US,” Naqvi was quoted as saying by his ministry.
Last year, the Pakistani airline resumed flights to Europe and the UK after a four-and-a-half-year ban on the airline was lifted. In Sept. 2025, a five-member US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) team engaged with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) to review the country’s aviation standards.
The resumption of direct flights to the US will improve the credibility of the South Asian country as well as its airlines.
Both sides also discussed Pakistan-US relations and increasing cooperation in the fields of security, counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics at the meeting, according to an interior ministry statement.
The latest developments relating to the US-Iran conflict in the Middle East alco came under discussion at the meeting, with Naqvi saying Islamabad was “optimistic” about a lasting and peaceful solution to the conflict.
“US Assistant Secretary of State praised Pakistan’s role in peace and stability in the region,” the Pakistani interior ministry added.
Pakistan has played an increasingly visible diplomatic role since the US-Iran war began on Feb. 28. In recent weeks, Islamabad has facilitated communication between Washington and Tehran, hosting their first direct talks on April 11–12.
Pakistani officials have since repeatedly expressed optimism that a deal could be reached “sooner rather than later,” though differences remain over the scope and sequencing of any agreement.
