British airline Virgin Atlantic suspends flight operations in Pakistan. In the press release issued on Monday, the airline informed that they are suspending operations between London and Lahore, and Islamabad.
“As we continue to ramp up our flying program in 2023, we’ve taken the opportunity to review our entire network and decided to make a few changes. Following this review, it is with regret that we’ve taken the difficult decision to suspend our services between London Heathrow and Pakistan,” the press release quoted a spokesperson as saying.
The spokesperson added that this was not a decision that was taken lightly and that they apologize for the inconvenience.
Virgin suspends all flights to Pakistan. Yet another collapse & failure by this govt.We worked & focused on connectivity with the world via International airlines.Even during covid we managed to keep them all operational. The current government is worse for us than any pandemic. pic.twitter.com/KlN90qCj6L
— Sayed Z Bukhari (@sayedzbukhari) February 13, 2023
Virgin Atlantic scraps Pakistan operations just after a few years
Virgin launched Pakistan in December 2020 at the height of the pandemic when many destinations including the US were off limits. As long-haul flying comes back, carriers are focusing on most lucrative routes pic.twitter.com/fUzp2gWELp
— Faseeh Mangi (@FaseehMangi) February 13, 2023
Another hit: Virgin Atlantic is ending its flight operations to Pakistan.
— Economy of Pakistan (@Pakistanomy) February 13, 2023
Virgin Atlantic ending flights to and from Pakistan. 😪
— Azam Jamil اعظم (@AzamJamil53) February 13, 2023
Not good news Virgin Atlantic announces end to flight operations to Pakistan https://t.co/8Mw12b8zAX via @pakobserver
— Maleeha Lodhi (@LodhiMaleeha) February 13, 2023
“We would like to wholeheartedly thank everyone in Pakistan; our customers, teams, partners, and the authorities for their support over the past two years,” the spokesperson said.
Read more: Virgin Atlantic to increase flight operations in Pakistan
The airline will continue operations between London and Lahore until May 1, and between London and Islamabad until July 9. It would communicate with customers scheduled to fly after the aforementioned dates as well as those affected by cancellations in the form of “rebooking, where applicable, or a full refund”.
According to the press release, the final dates for operations in Pakistan are:
- LHR-LHE VS364 departs on April 30 at 21:55
- LHE-LHR VS365 departs May 1 at 12:25
- LHR-ISB VS378 departs July 8 at 21:55
- ISB-LHR VS379 departs July 9 at 12:40
Virgin Atlantic started its flight operations in Pakistan in 2020. The inaugural flight from Manchester received a warm welcome from the government of Pakistan in Islamabad on Thursday.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan, Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari, and British High Commissioner was present at the Islamabad International Airport to welcome the inaugural flight of Virgin Atlantic. By the mid of 2022, Virgin Atlantic was planning to increase flight operations in Pakistan. However, the decision has left people in Pakistan upset and disappointed with the current government.
Virgin Atlantic has announced to suspend their operations b/w Pakistan and UK.This is despite them getting good loads on their flights however they’re facing the issue of pending payments from Pakistan due to the shortage of USD in the country.
Expect more such developments 😔
— Moiz Ur Rehman (@MoizUrRehman_) February 13, 2023
The government is now receiving flak for the suspension of the operation of British airlines in Pakistan.
PTI leader Sayed Zulfikar Bukhari taking to Twitter said, “Virgin suspends all flights to Pakistan. Yet another collapse & failure by this govt. We worked & focused on connectivity with the world via International airlines. Even during covid, we managed to keep them all operational. The current government is worse for us than any pandemic.”
Netizens say the suspension of flight operations is a major blow to overseas Pakistanis and will directly impact the tourism industry in Pakistan. Some have blamed the incompetence of the government for driving out the international airlines from Pakistan.