Scheduled for January 29, with biweekly services, reestablishing the Pakistan-Bangladesh air link
Pakistan and Bangladesh will resume direct flights after more than a decade, Dhaka’s national airline said on Thursday, as ties grow closer and regional power balances shift.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines is scheduled to operate its first Karachi-Dhaka flight on January 29 and will be operated twice a week, the first scheduled flights since 2012.
“We are relaunching the Karachi-Dhaka route with two weekly flights,” said airline director Bosra Islam. AFP on Thursday.
Pakistan and Bangladesh – divided geographically by more than 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) by India – were once a single nation. They separated after a bitter war in 1971.
“The resumption of direct flights will significantly improve connectivity between Pakistan and Bangladesh, supporting business travel, tourism and family reunions,” Biman Bangladesh Airlines said in a statement.
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Travelers between Pakistan and Bangladesh must currently use connecting flights via Gulf hubs such as Dubai and Doha.
Bangladesh has been in political turmoil since a student-led revolt toppled Sheikh Hasina in August 2024, ending her 15-year autocratic rule.
Relations between Bangladesh and India, Hasina’s former ally, grew frosty after her ouster, while ties with Muslim-majority Pakistan have strengthened.
Cargo ships resumed sailing from Karachi to the key port of Chittagong in Bangladesh in November 2024.
Trade has increased since then and cultural ties have increased: popular Pakistani singers perform in Dhaka, while Bangladeshi patients travel to Pakistan for medical care.
