Scheduled for January 29 with bi-weekly services restoring Pakistan-Bangladesh air connectivity
Pakistan and Bangladesh are to resume direct flights after more than a decade, Dhaka’s national airline said Thursday, as ties warm and regional power balances shift.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines is scheduled to fly its first Karachi-Dhaka flight on January 29 and will operate twice weekly, the first scheduled flights since 2012.
“We are relaunching the Karachi-Dhaka route with two weekly flights,” said airline CEO Bosra Islam. AFP on Thursday.
Pakistan and Bangladesh – geographically divided by more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) by India – were once one nation. They separated after a bitter war in 1971.
“The resumption of direct flights will significantly improve connectivity between Pakistan and Bangladesh and support business travel, tourism and family reunions,” Biman Bangladesh Airlines said in a statement.
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Travelers between Pakistan and Bangladesh currently have to use connecting flights through Gulf hubs such as Dubai and Doha.
Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since a student-led uprising toppled Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, ending her autocratic 15-year rule.
Relations between Bangladesh and Hasina’s old ally India cooled after her ouster, while ties with fellow Muslim country Pakistan have warmed.
Cargo ships resumed sailing from Karachi to Bangladesh’s key port of Chittagong in November 2024.
Trade has increased since then and cultural ties have grown, with popular Pakistani singers performing in Dhaka, while Bangladeshi patients travel to Pakistan for medical care.
