State-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which has been banned from flying in European skies for more than four years, resumed its flights to Europe on Friday with a connection to Paris.
A plane from the Pakistani company took off at around 12:40 local time (07:40 in Lisbon) from Islamabad airport, according to journalists from the AFP news agency.
PIA once again becomes the only airline operating flights between Pakistan and the European Union.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended its operating authorization in 2020, following a scandal related to the validity of pilots' licenses, preceded by a PIA plane crash in which 97 people died.
The ban was lifted in November, after the airline implemented reforms to address these issues and comply with international safety standards. Before the ban, PIA flew to Denmark, France, Italy and Spain, specifically to the city of Barcelona, where a large Pakistani community lives.
In October, the state-owned airline suspended flights due to fuel shortages due to unpaid bills, and in September it grounded 14 of its 31 planes due to a serious financial crisis.
