AirSial

Is AirSial safe?

AirSial has flown for almost six years without an accident, an injury on board or a written-off aircraft, which puts it ahead of Pakistan's older airlines on the record that matters most. We score it 64, above Airblue (61) and PIA (39). The catch is that a clean record over six years and a dozen jets proves less than it seems, and AirSial works under a regulator that the FAA still rates Category 2FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary and that publishes few investigation reports. It is not an IATA member, so we cannot confirm an IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary safety audit.

Who runs AirSial

The airline was set up by business owners from the Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and Industry to give the industrial city its own air links. After years of delays, it started scheduled flights at the end of 2020 with three A320s leased from AerCap. It flies under the IATA code PF and the ICAO designator SIF, with "AIR SIAL" as its radio call sign, so every flight on this page is AirSial's own.

The network runs between Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Sialkot, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, Sukkur and Skardu, with international routes to Jeddah, Madinah, Riyadh, Dammam, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Muscat.

No accidents, and a short public incident list

The Aviation Safety Network lists no accident for AirSial. The events we found in reports are the routine kind for an A320 operator:

• February 2021: on 24 February, flight PF125 from Karachi, an A320 registered AP-BOB, hit a bird on approach to Islamabad, and the strike damaged a flap on the right wing. The aircraft landed normally but was out of service for more than a day.
• April 2024: a Karachi–Lahore flight returned to Karachi shortly after take-off with a technical problem; more than 100 passengers were on board, and the airline confirmed the fault.
• March 2026: flight PF-768 from Islamabad to Riyadh, with about 160 passengers, diverted to Karachi with a technical fault over the Arabian Sea and landed without injuries.
• August 2026: flight PF-125 from Karachi diverted to Sialkot after about half an hour of severe turbulence near Islamabad. Flights of PIA, Airblue and Fly Jinnah diverted the same evening. Passengers protested on board when the airline planned to continue on the same aircraft.

None of these was reported as a serious incident. But Pakistan's accident investigators publish few reports, and the ones they do publish can take years, so a short list partly reflects how little is made public. We score serious incidents at 55, the same band as other airlines under thin regulators.

The passenger flown to the wrong country

On 8 July 2025 a passenger booked from Lahore to Karachi was boarded on an AirSial flight to Jeddah, without a passport or visa. Saudi immigration detained him and deported him to Lahore. The Pakistan Airports Authority blamed an operational failure at AirSial and recommended a heavy fine; the Civil Aviation Authority was reported to be investigating. AirSial blamed an aircraft swap and a shared late-night lounge at Lahore. The passenger has sued the airline and immigration officials in the Sindh High Court.

Boarding checks are a security matter, not a flying one, but the case shows that both the airline's gate check and immigration failed. It counts lightly in the incidents score, and we will update the page if the inquiry ends in a fine.

Oversight: the Pakistan discount

Pakistan's pilot-licence scandal of 2020, in which 262 pilots were grounded over suspect licences, came months before AirSial's first flight. The fallout still shapes the rating of every Pakistani airline. The FAA downgraded Pakistan to Category 2FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary in July 2020 and has not restored it. EASA suspended PIA's European permit until November 2024, and the UK kept Pakistan on its Air Safety ListEU Air Safety ListThe European Commission's list of airlines banned or restricted from flying in EU airspace because they do not meet international safety standards.More in the glossary until July 2025.

AirSial has no European or UK permit and does not fly there. It is not on IATA's member list, so membership cannot show an IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit. That gives it the same oversight score as Airblue (45), five points below IOSA-registered PIA.

Fleet

The airline's own fleet page lists A320-200s with 180 seats; a September 2026 report put the count at 12, making AirSial Pakistan's second-largest airline by aircraft after PIA. The jets are leased, second-hand A320ceos. The A320 is fly-by-wireFly-by-wireA flight control system in which the pilot's inputs go to computers, which then move the control surfaces. Many such systems also stop unsafe manoeuvres.More in the glossary and well supported worldwide, and one type means one pilot rating and one set of spares. But there are no new-generation aircraft yet. Two A320neos with CFM LEAP engines, leased from BOC Aviation, are due in 2028. AirSial publishes no average fleet age, which keeps the fleet score at 52, a little below Airblue, which already flies two A321neos.

Flying AirSial: what to consider

• Skardu needs slack in your plans. The mountain airport has strict weather limits, and cancellations there are a correct safety call. Do not book a same-day onward connection.
• Expect delays after a fault. With 12 jets and no spare aircraft to speak of, one technical problem can strand a planeload of passengers for hours, as happened in Karachi in 2024 and 2026. Book flexible fares for tight trips, such as Umrah departures.
• Check your boarding pass at the gate. The 2025 Jeddah case started with a wrong boarding. Read the destination on the screen and your pass before you walk down the bridge.
• Peshawar and Quetta are in EASA's conflict-zone bulletin area. Check your government's travel advice for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan before you go.

How we scored it

The accident record (87) is AirSial's strength: no accident in six years. Oversight (45) reflects FAA Category 2FAA IASAThe US FAA's check of whether a country's aviation regulator meets ICAO standards. Category 1 means it does; Category 2 means it does not.More in the glossary and no confirmed IOSAIOSAThe IATA Operational Safety Audit, an international audit of an airline's safety management and operations. Every IATA member must pass it.More in the glossary audit, and fleet (52) older second-hand A320ceos with no new-generation jets yet. Serious incidents (55) and environment (45, the same as PIA and Airblue) complete the score. For a comparison with Pakistan's low-cost newcomer, see Fly Jinnah.