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       The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Sunday launched an inaugural flight from Lahore to Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku under flight number PK159, a statement issue by the airline said.

       The flight marked the commencement of a new route, signifying a “milestone in the national carrier’s strategy to expand its international network and enhance connectivity between Pakistan and Central Asia”, according to the statement.

       “This initiative also reflects the growing diplomatic and economic ties between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, aiming to boost tourism, trade, and people-to-people linkages,” it said.

       It added that to mark the occasion, a special inauguration ceremony was held at the International Departure Lounge of Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore.

       “The event was chaired by the Honorable Minister for Defence, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, and was graced by the esteemed presence of the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Pakistan, HE Khazar Farhadov,” it said.

       According to a 2024 report by Azerbaijan’s Trend News Agency, Azerbaijan is considered one of the preferred tourist destinations for Pakistanis. Quoting an official of a Pakistani travel agency, it said about 250,000 citizens visited the transcontinental country in 2023.

       PIA finally resumed flights to Europe in January after a four-and-a-half-year ban was lifted by EU regulators.

       A flight of the state-owned airline, plagued by a history of deadly crashes and a pilot licence scandal, took off from Islamabad for Paris, becoming the only carrier to offer a direct route to and from the European Union.

       Debt-ridden PIA was banned in June 2020 from flying to the European Union, United Kingdom and the United States, a month after one of its Airbus A-320s plunged into Karachi’s Model Colony, killing nearly 100 people.

       The disaster was attributed to human error by the pilots and air traffic control, and was followed by allegations that nearly a third of the licences for its pilots were fake or dubious.

       In 2016, a PIA plane burst into flames after one of its two turboprop engines failed during a flight from Chitral to Islamabad, killing more than 40 people.

       Last year, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency announced it had lifted the ban, however, it remains barred from flying in the UK and the United States.