Direct Bangladesh-Pakistan flights to resume after 14 years

Bangladesh and Pakistan will resume direct flights between their countries after over a decade, Bangladesh’s national airline has announced.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines plans to operate its inaugural flight on the Dhaka-Karachi sector on January 29th. The airline will operate the sector on a twice-weekly basis. The airline has not operated on this sector since 2012.

"We will fly twice a week to resume our Dhaka-Karachi service," airline manager Bosra Islam told AFP on Thursday.

“The resumption of direct flights is expected to improve connectivity between Bangladesh and Pakistan as it will help in business travel, tourism, as well as reunions,” Biman Bangladesh Airlines Added in their statement.

The current options for passengers traveling between Bangladesh and Pakistan are to take connecting flights via Gulf hubs like Dubai and Doha.

Shipping had also resumed from the Port of Karachi to the major Bangladeshi port of Chittagong since November 2024.

Recently, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Imran Haider, had hoped that the direct flights between Karachi and Dhaka would begin in January, while meeting the Chief Adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Relations between both Pakistan and Bangladesh remained unstable throughout the regimes of ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina. But after the popular uprising against her government and her subsequent exile, there have been improvements in bilateral relations.