Pakistan International Airlines informations and photos

Pakistan International Airlines (Urdu: پاکستان انٹرنیشنل ایئرلائنز; abbreviated PIA, Urdu: پی‌آئی‌اے) is an international airline that serves as the national flag carrier of Pakistan under the administrative control of the Secretary to the Government of Pakistan for Aviation. Its central hub is Karachi's Jinnah International Airport, while Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore, and Islamabad International Airport serve as secondary hubs.

PIA was founded on 29 October 1946 as Orient Airways, and was initially based in Calcutta, British India, before shifting operations to the newly independent state of Pakistan in 1947. Orient Airways was nationalised to form the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIAC). The new airline commenced international services in 1955 to London, via Cairo and Rome. PIA became the first Asian airline to operate jet aircraft with the induction of the Boeing 707 into commercial service on 7 March 1960, and later in 1964 became the first non-Communist airline to fly to China. The airline played a vital role in the establishment of Emirates Airline in 1985. In 2004, PIA become the launch customer of the Boeing 777-200LR. On 10 November 2005 PIA used the Boeing 777-200LR to complete the world's longest nonstop flight by a commercial airliner. This flight lasted 22 hours and 22 minutes on the eastbound route between Hong Kong and London.

PIA is Pakistan's largest airline and operates a fleet of more than 30 aircraft. The airline operates nearly 100 flights daily, servicing 18 domestic destinations and 25 international destinations across Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America. In addition to commercial flight operations, PIA also owns The Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, and the Sofitel Paris Scribe Hotel in Paris. The airline operates a frequent flier programme, PIA Awards +, and has several codeshare and interline agreements. However, it is not part of any airline alliance.

On 30 June 2020, PIA was banned from flying in European airspace for six months, starting on 1 July 2020, after EASA determined that the airline was not capable of certifying and overseeing its operators and aircraft in accordance with applicable international standards. This decision was made soon after it was revealed that at least a third of all pilot's licenses issued in Pakistan were not genuine. By 9 July 2020, the airline was also banned by the United Kingdom and the United States.

Pakistan International Airlines can trace its origins to the days when Pakistan had not yet come into existence following the end of the British Raj and the Partition of British India. In early 1930s, the Imperial Airways' used to operate its long-haul routes by creating a lots of small airports across Africa and Asia. The Handley Page H.P.42 aircraft was Imperial Airways' first major success, as it was specially designed to handle operations from unprepared ground. The aircraft is pictured in Pakistan in 1934.© Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

In 1945, the country's founder Muhammed Ali Jinnah realized the need for a flag carrier for the prospective country and requested financial help from wealthy businessmen Mirza Ahmad Ispahani and Adamjee Haji Dawood for this purpose. As a result, the new airline, Orient Airways, was registered in Kolkata (then known as Calcutta) on 23 October 1946. Orient became the first and only Muslim-owned airline in the British Raj.

In February 1947, the airline bought three Douglas DC-3 aircraft and obtained a licence to fly in May of the same year. The airline started its operations on 30 June 1947, offering services in British India from Calcutta to Sittwe and Rangoon (present-day Yangon).

On 14 August 1947, Pakistan gained independence and Orient Airways started relief operations for the new country. The airline was entrusted with the task of servicing air routes between East and West Pakistan. By 1949, Orient acquired three Convair CV-240s to service the Karachi-Delhi-Calcutta-Dhaka route and became the first Asian airline to operate Convair aircraft.

Orient's traffic continuously declined until 1953 as Britain's BOAC had been granted rights to carry passengers between the two wings of Pakistan, while two other local competitors also began serving Orient routes. As a result of losses, the Pakistani government began subsidizing Orient's operations through a 1952 contract for the purchase of three Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellations registered to the government's newly established subsidiary, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), at the cost of 25 million rupees. PIA had been established as a department of Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority, and was tasked with operation and maintenance of the new Lockheed aircraft.

Pakistan's government established the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation through the merger Orient Airways with Pakistan International Airlines on 1 October 1953 by an interim joint operating agreement in which the government assumed financial control of the airline, while Orient's operations and ground assets could be complemented by the aircraft of Pakistan International Airlines – although Orient Airways continued to operate under its name for a few more years.

Pakistan's Ministry of Defence took over operations from the Civil Aviation Authority in early 1954, while the chairman of Orient Airways became the CEO of PIA, and foreign staff brought in to help relaunch the airline. On 7 June 1954, Orient Airways began nonstop flight services between East- and West Pakistan, with service from Karachi to Dhaka using Pakistan International Airlines' Lockheed aircraft that had been ordered in 1952 and delivered in early 1954. The route was subsidized by the government so that middle-class Pakistanis could afford to fly the route, with rates that may have been the lowest in the world at the time. The airline also introduced two new domestic routes: Karachi–Lahore–Peshawar and Karachi–Quetta–Lahore.

On 11 March 1955, Orient Airways and Pakistan International Airlines were formally merged as part of the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation Ordinance, 1955. Orient Airways ceased operations while the government of Pakistan took a majority holding in the airline. The new PIA had a fleet of three L-I049C Super Constellations, two Convair CV-240s, and eleven DC-3s.

The newly relaunched airline also inaugurated its first international route, Karachi-London Heathrow Airport via Cairo and Rome, using the newly acquired Lockheed L-1049C Super Constellations. The airline continued using DC-3s on domestic routes in Pakistan. PIA carried 113,165 passengers in 1955 – 50% higher than in 1954.

In May 1956, PIA ordered five Vickers Viscount 815s. The airline also entered into a partnership with PanAm to train PIA's personnel in 1956. In 1957–1958, passenger numbers rose to 208,000, necessitating the purchase of 2 additional Lockheed Super Constellations. The appointment of Air Marshal Nur Khan as the managing director of PIA in 1959 heralded an era of success for PIA.

In February 1960, PIA wet-leased a Boeing 707 from Pan American airlines and introduced it onto the Karachi-London route on 7 March 1960 initially using PanAm pilots, thereby becoming the first Asian airline to induct and commercially operate a jet aircraft in its fleet. – Air India took delivery of a 707 earlier on 21 February 1960, but did not induct the aircraft into commercial service until 19 April 1960. An all-Pakistani crew began operation of the 707 from 20 June 1960 onwards. By the end of 1960, PIA, for the first time, entered financial profitability.

With the newly acquired aircraft, the airline introduced its first trans-Atlantic route Karachi-New York via London on 5 May 1961, which was suspended in February 1963. In 1961, it expanded its fleet by placing orders for 3 Boeing 720s, which were delivered in 1962. On 2 January 1962, a PIA Boeing 720B flown by Captain Abdullah Baig from London to Karachi established a world record for speed over a commercial airline route of 938.78 km/h (582.98 mph), a record which still holds to this day. Fokker F27 Friendships, and Sikorsky helicopters were also ordered and delivered in 1963, with the helicopters used to provide air service to 20 towns in East Pakistan until 1966.

The helicopters were retired in 1966 and a reduced network of eight cities was served by Fokker F27 aircraft. Upon the establishment of ties between Pakistan and the People's Republic of China, PIA started flying the Dhaka-Canton-Shanghai route on 29 April 1964, becoming the first airline of a non-communist country flying to the People's Republic of China. On 10 May 1964, PIA became the first non-Soviet airline offering flights to Europe via Moscow.

At the outbreak of Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, the Pakistani Armed Forces used PIA's services for logistics and transport purposes. The Viscounts were phased out in 1966 and were replaced by four Hawker Siddeley Tridents.

PIA's route grew rapidly in the mid to late 1960s: Dhahran was added in 1965, while Cairo services resumed. In 1966, Paris, Istanbul, Baghdad, Kuwait, Jeddah and Nairobi were added to PIA's routes. Bangkok was added in 1967, while Manila, Tokyo, and Damascus were added in 1969.

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