OREANDA-NEWS  Russia expects to open direct flights with Pakistan and is ready to serve flights of the country's national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Deputy Head - State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport Dmitry Zverev said at a meeting of the Pakistani-Russian intergovernmental commission.

"Consultations of the aviation authorities will be held today - we will be sincerely glad, on the one hand, to open direct flights between our capitals, but also to gradually increase the geography and frequency of flights. And we will certainly be glad to see Pakistan International Airlines at Russian airports," he said.

At the end of November, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) lifted a four-year ban on PIA flights to Europe. The ban was introduced in June 2020 after the disaster involving the airline's Airbus A320 in Karachi, which killed 97 people, as well as the scandal of fake pilot licenses. The Pakistani aviation authorities have eliminated the identified problems and increased the level of safety supervision, EASA said.

PIA announced plans to resume flights to Europe in the coming weeks, starting from Paris, with the subsequent expansion of the route network to London, Manchester and Birmingham. Previously, the ban led to annual losses of the carrier in the amount of about 40 billion Pakistani rupees (approximately $144 million).