PIA clears Boeing 787 for operations, first flight on October 31

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines has been cleared to operate its first Boeing 787 after a Civil Aviation Authority inspection team completed checks on the aircraft at Oslo Airport, ARY News reported, a step the airline expects to widen its international network.

According to sources cited by ARY News, the inspection was carried out by a delegation led by CAA Director General Nader Shafi Dar, which granted permission for the aircraft to fly in Pakistan. The same report said a second aircraft will be inspected at Oslo Airport on Monday, and a third at London Airport on November 20. Aircraft cleared in Oslo would be sent on to London, the sources said.

The first Boeing 787 service is scheduled for October 31. Flight PK-786 will depart London for Islamabad and is expected to arrive with passengers on November 1. The aircraft has a seating capacity of 358 passengers. PIA will also introduce a new uniform for crew on October 31, alongside the start of operations with the new type, according to the report. ProPakistani also carried the clearance as a headline item.

ARY News reported separately that PIA's operations to Riyadh, the Saudi capital, were completely suspended. A Fly Jinnah flight on the Lahore-Karachi-Riyadh route was cancelled, while Flynas cancelled its Karachi-Madinah and Karachi-Riyadh flights, citing technical reasons. The report did not say whether the Riyadh suspensions were connected to the security situation there.

Flights to Madinah and Jeddah operated by other airlines from Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar and Islamabad were continuing as scheduled, the report said. The Pakistan Airports Authority said special facilitation counters had been set up at all major airports to assist affected passengers.

In the same report, ARY News cited Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation as saying at least 12 people were killed and more than 300 wounded in an attack by Houthis on Riyadh's international airport on Saturday, describing it as the deadliest attack in the kingdom in more than a decade. Those casualty figures could not be independently verified by Skardu Times.

The Boeing 787 is the first of its kind to enter Pakistani registry. PIA has not said which routes the remaining aircraft will serve once inspections are complete, or how the addition will affect its existing long-haul schedule.