Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the country’s flag carrier, will begin direct flights from Lahore to Sydney in April 2022.
Pakistan’s Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan first announced the new airline operation in February 2022.
PIA planned two weekly flights between Karachi, Lahore, and Sydney at first, with Islamabad to be added later, according to Khan.
He further stated that because there are no direct flights between Pakistan and Australia, it takes approximately 35 hours to travel there with stopovers.
Australia! The Wait is over! #PIA is starting direct flights between #Pakistan & #Australia. #Lahore ⇔ #Sydney
Stay Tuned for more details. pic.twitter.com/yC30epp9MX— PIA (@Official_PIA) March 12, 2022
In an interview with SBS Urdu, PIA’s general manager of corporate communications Abdullah Hafeez confirmed the flight intentions.
For the Australian trips, PIA will employ its Boeing 777-200LR aircraft. On April 22, 2022, aircraft number PK-9808 will depart Lahore International Airport for Sydney, with the return flight set on April 24, 2022.
According to the website of Sydney International Airport (SYD), PIA will use Terminal 1 at SYD.
According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs, there are over 90,000 Pakistani-born people in Australia, more than three times the number registered in June 2009 (27,250).