Fly Jinnah

Is Fly Jinnah safe?

Fly Jinnah has had no accident in four years of flying, and it is backed by Air Arabia, one of the Gulf's most experienced low-cost airlines. We score it 64, level with AirSial and above Airblue (61). The weaker points are a serious incident in May 2024, when both pilots began to feel the effects of a pressurisation problem, and the Pakistani system it works in: the FAA rates Pakistan 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, investigators publish little, and Fly Jinnah has no 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 we can confirm.

Who flies your Fly Jinnah flight

Fly Jinnah is a joint venture between Pakistan's Lakson Group and Air Arabia, which owns 45%. It started domestic flights from Karachi at the end of 2022 and added international routes in February 2024, starting with Islamabad to Sharjah. It now also flies to Dubai, Bahrain, Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam, and inside Pakistan to Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Multan, Faisalabad and Sialkot.

The airline has its own Pakistani operating certificate, its own IATA code (9P), ICAO designator (FJL) and radio call sign (OKAAB). So Fly Jinnah's events count here, not on Air Arabia's page, and Air Arabia's IOSA registrationIOSAThe 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 and UAE oversight do not apply to it. What Air Arabia does provide is the aircraft: its annual report says the group subleases jets to Fly Jinnah, and its June 2026 fleet table puts eight of the group's aircraft in Pakistan.

The May 2024 pressurisation incident

On 24 May 2024 flight 9P-843, an A320 from Lahore to Karachi, stopped its climb at about 8,000 feet because of a pressurisation problem. The crew then reported the problem resolved and continued towards 36,000 feet. Passing about 23,000 feet, both pilots felt dizzy, drowsy and slow to act, symptoms that fit a lack of oxygen. They put on their oxygen masks, levelled off at 27,000 feet and returned to Lahore. A cabin crew member passed out and recovered with oxygen; other cabin crew also felt unwell. The aircraft landed about 45 minutes after take-off.

Pakistan's Aircraft Accident Investigation Board rated it a serious incident and opened an investigation. Germany's BFU joined in January 2025 because a component involved was designed or made in Germany. We have found no final report. The key question is why the crew continued the climb after a pressurisation fault. Until the report says whether that was a technical failure, a procedural gap or a crew decision, this event weighs most in the incidents score of 52.

Other incidents

• September 2024: an A320 from Karachi with 164 people on board got a cargo smoke warning on descent into Lahore. It landed and was evacuated by slides; firefighters found no fire, heat or smoke. Slide evacuations carry a real risk of injury, but this was the correct response to the warning.
• September 2024 and September 2025: bird strikes at Lahore; in 2025 a bird went into an engine on climb out for Sharjah, the crew shut it down and landed back about 13 minutes later.
• August 2026: a Quetta–Islamabad flight diverted to Sialkot in bad weather, along with AirSial, PIA and Airblue flights.

Air Arabia's 2025 report says Pakistan's regulator ranked Fly Jinnah second in punctuality that year. That says nothing directly about safety, but it fits a carefully run operation.

Oversight and the Pakistan discount

Every Pakistani airline carries the fallout of the 2020 pilot-licence scandal. 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, and EASA suspended PIA's European permit until November 2024. Fly Jinnah does not fly to Europe or the UK.

Fly Jinnah 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. We give it the same oversight score as Airblue (45), five points below IOSA-registered PIA.

Fleet

Fly Jinnah flies only the Airbus A320. Air Arabia's fleet table for June 2026 allocates eight aircraft to Pakistan, up from five when international flights began in 2024. Incident reports name A320ceos with CFM56 engines, the generation before the neo. Air Arabia's own fleet is now mostly new A320neos, but we could not confirm that any of them fly for Fly Jinnah, and no average age is published. The fleet scores 55.

Flying Fly Jinnah: what to consider

• Quetta and Peshawar are in EASA's conflict-zone bulletin area. Check your government's travel advice for Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before you book.
• Monsoon diversions happen. In summer, storms over Islamabad can send flights to Sialkot or Lahore. Leave a buffer before onward connections at Islamabad.
• If oxygen masks drop, put yours on at once. The 2024 incident showed how fast cabin altitude affects people: a cabin crew member passed out. Fit your own mask before helping anyone else.

How we scored it

The accident record (86) is Fly Jinnah's strength, though four years on eight jets is a short record. 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, and serious incidents (52) the open 2024 pressurisation investigation. Fleet (55) and environment (45, the same as PIA and Airblue) complete the score.