Coronavirus Creates New Long-Haul Flights Between U.S. And Pakistan

The coronavirus is prompting plenty of outlier events, but some occurrences are old plans finally being realized.

Because of the coronavirus, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will – for the first time in 14 years – be able to use its long-range aircraft as intended.

PIA long wanted to fly non-stop to the U.S. from Pakistan, so in 2006 it acquired a pair of Boeing
BA
777-200LRs that would finally make the 13 plus hour trip possible.

The -200LR was a long-range variant so new that PIA was the first airline to receive the type. Yet PIA never got to use the aircraft as intended.

The U.S. did not permit non-stop flights, citing airport security in Pakistan. Instead, PIA had to continue flying via Manchester in the U.K. so the flight could be screened in a country with approved security.

The stopover negated the need for the more expensive ultra-long-haul -200LR.

PIA could have instead increased its fleet of other, less costly, 777 variants. Delta last month said it would retire its -200LRs, a few years younger than PIA’s, by the end of 2020.

Now due to the pandemic, the U.S. is approving PIA to fly non-stop from Pakistan. It is on a limited basis: PIA can only fly up to 12 round-trip charters, and only when using its two -200LRs.

The first non-stop charter left Islamabad on May 31 and arrived in Newark 13 hours and 39 minutes later, according to Flightradar24. PIA had been flying to Newark during the pandemic via London and Manchester. It served Washington, D.C., via Toronto.

The prior forced stopover in another country was so inefficient and costly that PIA ceased flying to the U.S. in 2017. PIA was able to make use of the -200LR’s range by having non-stop flights to Toronto, but that was not PIA’s primary intent for the aircraft.

Also caught out was Philippine Airlines (PAL), which acquired new Boeing 777s for U.S. flights.

Yet when PAL’s first 777-300ER arrived in 2009, the Philippines was downgraded to FAA Category 2. That status allowed PAL to keep flying to the U.S. but without any changes, such as using the new 777 it purposely acquired for the U.S. market.

PAL also had to use the aircraft elsewhere, such as Canada, until the Philippines regained Category 1 status in 2014. That allowed PAL to finally deploy the 777s to the U.S.

Some industry observers wonder if PAL and PIA assumed, or had informal assurances, that buying Boeing aircraft would see the U.S. help the countries improve safety and earn the right designations.

Pakistan kept liaising with the U.S. about security. PIA invited the Transportation Security Administration to formally assess Islamabad airport, the U.S. embassy in Pakistan said in March.

That visit could facilitate “the possibility of capacity development,” the embassy said, but noted “there are no imminent plans for direct flights between Pakistan and the United States.”