Bangladesh to resume direct flights with Pakistan from Jan 29 after a decade gap

Dhaka, Jan 7 (PTI) Bangladesh's flag carrier will resume direct flights between Dhaka and Pakistan's largest city Karachi from January 29, restoring non-stop air connectivity between the two countries after over a decade, officials said Wednesday.

Initially, state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines will operate twice a week, on Thursdays and Saturdays, on the Dhaka-Karachi route, the airline said in a statement.

The flight will depart Dhaka at 8:00 pm local time and arrive in Karachi at 11:00 pm. The return flight will depart Karachi at 12:00 midnight and arrive in Dhaka at 4:20 am, it said.

Currently, passengers travelling between the two countries largely depend on connecting flights through hubs such as Dubai or Doha.

According to Biman officials, the plane would fly over Indian airspace, while the aerial distance between Dhaka and Karachi is around 2,370 kilometres.

It is not immediately known whether Bangladesh has secured the necessary clearance from New Delhi for overflight permissions.

Biman officials said discussions with Pakistani authorities were underway for several months to restart the route, which will mark the first direct Dhaka–Karachi flights since 2012.

The development comes amid growing bonhomie between Bangladesh and Pakistan following the fall of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s regime in 2024, with Dhaka and Islamabad taking steps in recent months to rebuild diplomatic, trade and people-to-people ties after years of strained relations. Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan in 1971.

The re-launch follows formal approval from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority, which has cleared Biman to operate on the route and to use designated air corridors within Pakistani airspace, the officials said.

“The launch of this new route is expected to make passenger travel between Bangladesh and Pakistan easier and more convenient. It will also open up new opportunities for business, tourism and family travel,” Biman Bangladesh said in the press release.

The new flights will be operated using modern aircraft and experienced flight crews, it said.

At present, several airlines, including Air Arabia, Gulf Air, Flydubai, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Thai Airways, operate transit flights from Bangladesh to Pakistan. As a result, travelling from Dhaka to Karachi takes around eight to 12 hours on average, including transit time. On some airlines, the journey can take as long as 18 to 22 hours.

Plans to restart direct flights between Bangladesh and Pakistan were first announced in August last year during the visit of Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to Dhaka.

Dar's visit to Dhaka was the first such high-level engagement between Pakistan and Bangladesh in over a decade. PTI SCY/AR ZH ZH