Aviation History
Pakistan's national aviation history builds on Orient Airways, founded in Kolkata in 1946, which relocated operations to Pakistan after independence in 1947 and merged into the newly created Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (PIA) by 1955. Under Air Marshal Nur Khan's leadership in the 1960s, PIA became the second Asian airline, after Air India, to operate jet aircraft in 1960, and in 1964 became the first non-Communist airline to serve China, also helping China establish its own early civil aviation capacity. PIA built a reputation as one of the world's more profitable airlines by the late 1960s and later set a notable distance record with a 2005 nonstop Hong Kong-London flight, but it has faced sustained financial losses, safety and credentialing controversies, and government-led restructuring since the 2010s, culminating in a majority-stake privatization announced in late 2025.
Orient Airways, the direct predecessor of Pakistan International Airlines, was founded in Kolkata on October 29, 1946, by Mirza Ahmad Ispahani and Adamjee Haji Dawood.
After relocating operations to Pakistan following independence, Orient Airways completed its merger into the state-backed Pakistan International Airlines Corporation, which began international service to London.
In March 1960, PIA became the second Asian airline, after Air India, to induct and commercially operate a jet aircraft, the Boeing 707.
PIA launched a transatlantic route linking Karachi and New York, extending its long-haul network.
PIA became the first non-Communist carrier to serve China and assisted with early Chinese civil aviation development through aircraft leases and training.
During its 'golden age' under Air Marshal Nur Khan, PIA was ranked among the world's most profitable airlines.
In November 2005, PIA operated a Hong Kong-London flight lasting 22 hours 22 minutes, at the time the world's longest nonstop scheduled commercial passenger flight.
PIA faced a major pilot-licensing credentials scandal in 2020, compounding years of sustained financial losses that had begun around 2011 and required government subsidies.
In late 2025, the Arif Habib-led consortium acquired a majority stake in PIA as part of a long-planned government privatization of the airline.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) · Orient Airways (historical) · AirBlue · SereneAir · Fly Jinnah
General public/encyclopedic sources (Wikipedia, PIA corporate history); the 2025 privatization deal and recent financial/scandal details are time-sensitive and should be reverified for current status.