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KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will resume direct flights to Britain in October after securing international safety and security approvals, the national carrier said on Wednesday, marking its return to one of its most important markets five years after a ban was imposed.

Britain lifted restrictions on Pakistani carriers in July, nearly half a decade after grounding them in the wake of a 2020 PIA Airbus A320 crash in Karachi that killed 97 people. The disaster led to a government investigation that exposed irregularities in pilot licensing and triggered bans in both the UK and European Union.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency lifted its suspension in November 2024, allowing PIA to restart flights to Paris in January before expanding to Lahore–Paris in June. But the airline suspended those services in recent months to prioritize resources for the UK relaunch.

“Pakistan International Airlines has formally received approval as a Third Country Operator (TCO) to operate flights to the United Kingdom,” said Abdullah Khan, a spokesperson for the airline. “The national carrier will restart direct flight operations to the UK from next month.”

PIA will initially relaunch services to Manchester, with Birmingham and London to follow, Khan added.

Separately, Britain’s Department for Transport confirmed that PIA had been designated “ACC3” — an aviation security certification required for non-European airlines flying cargo to the UK — from Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. 

The approval, valid until August 2030, clears the airline to carry freight to Britain.

“As of 23rd September 2025, these designations are active on the UK Supply Chain Security Database, in respect of flights to the UK,” David Shephard, head of air cargo security policy at the UK Department for Transport, wrote to PIA Chief Executive Officer AVM Mohammad Amir Hayyat on Tuesday.

With more than 1.6 million people of Pakistani origin in the UK and thousands of British nationals based in Pakistan, the resumption of services is seen as vital. At present, only British Airways offers limited direct connections, flying twice weekly to Islamabad.

Officials in Islamabad say PIA’s return will ease travel, strengthen trade ties and boost revenues. Britain is Pakistan’s third-largest trading partner, with bilateral commerce worth about £4.7 billion ($5.7 billion).

The Pakistan government, which has repeatedly bailed out the airline, is pressing ahead with its privatization as part of a broader plan to cut losses at state-owned firms under a $7 billion IMF bailout program. PIA has accumulated more than $2.5 billion in losses in roughly a decade, draining public finances.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar announced last month that three to four weekly flights from Pakistan to Manchester would begin in September, describing the airline’s revival as a “top priority.”

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said in July that restoring routes to Europe and Britain would help maximize PIA’s value ahead of a planned sale of a majority stake.

KARACHI: Diamond sets and a drone light show at a near-million-dollar wedding have become evidence for Pakistan’s tax authorities under a new “Lifestyle Monitoring Cell” tasked with scanning social media for lavish spenders, officials said.

A team of 40 investigators from the country’s Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has started scouring Instagram, TikTok and YouTube posts this week, to match influencers, celebrities, realtors and businesspeople with disproportionate filings.

“It’s open-source – their Instagram accounts are a public declaration,” one senior FBR official said, adding tax evasion cases can be opened up in a matter of hours. The FBR did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The monitoring cell has been formed to address Pakistan’s chronic inability to meet revenue collection targets, and to help meet tougher goals set in this year’s International Monetary Fund-backed budget.

The country has one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in Asia, a chronic weakness that has forced it into nearly two dozen IMF programs. Less than 2 percent of the country pays its income tax.

The unit was formally set up this month, according to an internal document seen by Reuters, which said its mandate was to “systematically monitor, scour and analyze data from major social media platforms” and identify people who display wealth but are either not registered for tax or declare income that appears incongruous with their expenditures and assets.

According to the document, the cell will build digital profiles of suspects, assess the money behind their lifestyles, and prepare reports that can be used for tax or money laundering investigations.

It will maintain a central database of evidence, including screenshots and timestamps, the document said.

DIAMONDS, DRONES, DJS, AND DATABASES

Officials said one wedding under review carried a price tag of nearly 248 million rupees ($878,000).

Documents seen by Reuters showed nearly $283,000 spent on diamond and gold sets and $124,000 on bridal outfits by leading South Asian designers.

Guests entered through a hallway of floral arches as drones lit up the sky, before sitting down to multi-course meals prepared for 400 people.

The celebrations featured top makeup artists, DJs and traditional qawwali music bands, while international consultants helped choreograph the six-day affair that officials said epitomized the kind of extravagant spending now in their crosshairs.

The wedding is just one of several cases under review, officials said. Investigators are also examining videos of luxury cars, high-end property tours and influencers flaunting expensive lifestyles.

“People themselves tag the event managers, the caterers, the jewellers, etc. It makes our work easy,” another official said, adding the expenditure of the two families involved did not match their income declaration.

Despite its recent formation, the new unit has already shortlisted multiple files for deeper scrutiny, officials said.

Past efforts to net high earners fizzled, but officials say the new focus on social media offers stronger leads and quicker ways to flag undeclared wealth.