Pakistan International Airlines (PIA)

Is PIA safe?

Pakistan International Airlines scores 30 for its accident record, below Iran Air (65). It has had three fatal crashes since 2006 on a small fleet, and two of the investigations found failures inside the airline: a skipped engine repair before the 2016 crash, and flight-data checks that were not done before the 2020 crash. We score it 39. The trend is better than the record: Europe and the UK lifted their bans in 2024 and 2025, and new private owners took over in 2026. But they inherited an ageing fleet: in April 2026 only 18 of 30 aircraft were operational.

The three fatal crashes

PK688, Multan, 10 July 2006. A Fokker F27 lost its right engine just after take-off and crashed, killing all 45 on board. The inquiry found the engine failed because of improper assembly during overhaul and that the crew mishandled the emergency. It said the problems were "complex and deep routed" and reflected on PIA's organisation, training and quality control, and on the regulator.

PK661, Havelian, 7 December 2016. An ATR 42-500 from Chitral to Islamabad lost power on its left engine in cruise and hit a hillside; all 47 died. Investigators found that PIA engineering had not replaced turbine blades that met the criteria for replacement during maintenance a month earlier, and that a part had been wrongly reassembled during undocumented maintenance.

PK8303, Karachi, 22 May 2020. An Airbus A320 from Lahore approached Karachi far too high, and the crew ignored controllers' instructions and touched down with the landing gear up. Both engines scraped the runway. The crew went around, but the damaged engines lost oil and failed, and the aircraft crashed into a residential area short of the runway. 97 of the 99 on board died, and one person on the ground died later. The final report, released in February 2024, also blamed air traffic control for not telling the crew about the engine strike, PIA's ineffective flight-data monitoring and unclear rules on flying while fasting.

PIA has also written offHull lossAn accident in which an aircraft is destroyed or damaged beyond economic repair. People may or may not be hurt.More in the glossary four aircraft without loss of life since 2006, according to the Aviation Safety Network: an ATR 42 whose gear collapsed on landing at Lahore (August 2012), a Boeing 737 whose left gear folded at Muscat (February 2013), an ATR 72 damaged during an engine run at Karachi (November 2018) and an ATR 42 that ran off the runway at Gilgit after a fast, flapless approach (July 2019).

PIA also lost an A310 and a 747 in the 2014 militant attack on Karachi airport, and a passenger died when gunfire hit an A310 approaching Peshawar that June. We count these as attacks, not accidents.

The licence scandal and the bans

Weeks after PK8303, Pakistan's government said that many of the country's pilot licences were suspect; reports put the share at nearly a third of PIA's pilots. EASA suspended PIA's authorisation to fly to Europe in June 2020, and the UK and other regulators followed. The FAA rated 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 in July 2020, finding that it did not meet ICAO safety standards.

The European ban lasted more than four years. On 29 November 2024, EASA said it had "re-established sufficient confidence" in Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority and lifted the suspension, also authorising Airblue. PIA returned to Paris in January 2025. The UK's Air Safety Committee removed Pakistan from the UK 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 on 16 July 2025. We found no published FAA upgrade, and PIA does not fly to the US.

Fleet and new owners

A consortium led by Arif Habib Group bought 75% of PIA for Rs135 billion in December 2025. The fleet is A320s for domestic and regional flights, Boeing 777s for long-haul and ATR turboprops for northern routes. Figures from the new owners vary: in December 2025 Arif Habib spoke of 19 aircraft, and in April 2026 he said PIA had 30, of which 18 were operational and five or six needed repair. The plan is 38 four- to seven-year-old aircraft in a first phase and 64 within about eight years, beginning with two wet-leased jets from late 2026.

PIA is an IATA member and therefore IOSA-registeredIOSAThe 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, which means it passes a recognised operational safety audit every two years.

Flying PIA: what to consider

• Northern routes are the hardest flying in the network. Gilgit, Skardu and Chitral are mountain airports where flights are cancelled in poor weather. Accept a cancellation rather than looking for an operator that will fly anyway.
• Expect long detours. Pakistan and India have closed their airspace to each other's airlines since April 2025, and EASA's conflict-zone bulletin covers Pakistan's western provinces.
• Check who operates the flight. As PIA adds wet-leased aircraft, some flights will be flown by the lessor's crew under its own certificate.

How we scored it

The accident record (30) dominates: three fatal crashes in 20 years is a lot for a fleet this size. Serious incidents (35) and the fleet (45) reflect maintenance findings and an ageing, partly grounded fleet. Oversight (50) has improved since EASA and the UK lifted their bans, but Pakistan is still 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. For nearby comparisons, see Air India, which has also had fatal crashes in the last 20 years, and Iran Air, which scores 44.