Direct commercial flights between Bangladesh and Pakistan will resume on January 29 amid a diplomatic thaw, restoring an air link that has been suspended for more than a decade.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the national carrier of Bangladesh, confirmed the restart of the route between Dhaka and Karachi on Thursday, marking the resumption of regular passenger services for the first time since 2012.
The airline said the service will run twice weekly, improving a corridor used by business travellers, medical passengers and families visiting relatives, which currently requires indirect travel through Gulf hubs including Dubai and Doha.
In a statement, the airline said the move would significantly improve connectivity and support commerce and tourism.
The decision follows months of warming ties that accelerated after Bangladesh’s 2024 political upheaval, when a student-led revolt ended the 15-year rule of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Relations between Dhaka and India's New Delhi cooled after her ouster, but Islamabad moved to rebuild channels with Bangladesh’s interim administration led by chief adviser Muhammad Yunus.
Regional trade activity has also been revived. Cargo shipping between Karachi and Chittagong, Bangladesh’s busiest seaport, resumed in November 2024, a milestone that officials from both countries described as a precursor to broader economic co-operation. Since then, bilateral trade volumes have risen, underpinned by increased cultural exchanges and cross-border medical travel, including Bangladeshi patients seeking specialist care in Pakistan.
The relaunch restores a route that once connected West and East Pakistan, two wings of the same country, before the 1971 war, offering a renewed link across South Asia’s evolving diplomatic landscape.
