NEW DELHI: Pakistan and Bangladesh celebrated the resumption of direct flights after 14 years when a Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane landed at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi.
“The first mission from Dhaka landed in Karachi late last night, marking the resumption of air relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh after 14 years.
“Achieving this long-awaited goal will be my main focus during my visit to Bangladesh in August 2025,” Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday.
ar said the restoration of direct flights would increase youth, academic, cultural, business and community exchanges, including family ties.
The departure of flight BG-341 from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Thursday was carried out by the Bangladesh interim government’s Advisor for the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism Sheikh Bashir Uddin, Pakistan High Commissioner to Bangladesh Imran Haider, Chief of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh Air Lieutenant General Mohammad Mostafa Mahmud Siddiq in a ceremony chaired by Biman CEO Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman.
The service will start with two flights a week. The inaugural flight will carry 150 passengers, according to Bangladeshi media reports.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which plans to launch services to Bangladesh, welcomed the arrival of Biman.
“A much-anticipated return – PIA welcomes our Bangladeshi brothers with pride and warmth. The two countries have once again established close ties through airspace,” he said in a post on the X app.
Previously, travel between the two countries, which are 1,500 kilometers apart, required using difficult transit routes, especially through the Gulf region.
— BERNAMA
