Emirates suspends Peshawar flights 'until further notice'

E-Paper | May 23, 2026

KARACHI: International carrier Emirates on Wednesday announced that it is halting flights in and out of Peshawar "until further notice".

In a short statement, the UAE-based airline said: "We can confirm that we are suspending our flights to Peshawar for operational reasons. This will take effect immediately (from 16 December) until further notice."

It added that services to other points in Pakistan — Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, and Sialkot — continue to operate as scheduled.

Booking a ticket for Peshawar on the Emirates website currently gives the following message:

"Emirates has suspended its services to Peshawar until further notice for operational reasons. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers. Customers are advised to contact their travel agent or Emirates Call Centres for rebooking options, and visit the website for further updates."

The short statement further said: "We remain committed to our customers in Pakistan and hope to resume services to Peshawar as soon as operational conditions allow us to do so". The carrier also apologised for the inconvenience.

The announcement comes shortly after a shocking Taliban attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, which left 141 people dead, most of them children.

Read: Taliban massacre 131 schoolchildren

The tragic death of over 100 school children has shaken the country and the international community, as condemnation for the attack pour in from the US, UK, India and other countries.

International airlines had suspended flights to Peshawar earlier this year for one month when militants attacked a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight flying into the city's Bacha Khan Airport.

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Urooj Saifi

Dec 17, 2014 12:49pm

Its time for PIA to have additional Dubai - Peshawar flights

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Rehan

Dec 17, 2014 12:56pm

I lost my respect for Emirates.. Responses like THESE are what the beasts of 16/12 love!

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Hyder

Dec 17, 2014 01:03pm

Sir, Pakistan should ban emirates operation and pakistanis should boycott the emirates airline for being so insensitive and mean.

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khan

Dec 17, 2014 01:15pm

These arabs will never be Pakistan's friends in hard time.

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Vicky

Dec 17, 2014 01:20pm

what happened to Emirates, what they has to do with this . childish decison

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S. A. M.

Dec 17, 2014 01:35pm

Without a word of support of support or statement to condemn Taliban killers all your government could think of is flight suspension that's how you care about our children shame on you

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Jatin

Dec 17, 2014 01:40pm

Even Islamic states are not helping Islamic Pakistan in this hour of need..

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Asif kamil

Dec 17, 2014 01:58pm

Unfortunate for pakistan .

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Aamir Khan

Dec 17, 2014 02:35pm

They have a business to protect. They are responsible for their passengers, not you. Stop accusing them of being childish. The fact that an Army run school was taken over by 6 men speaks volumes about the security situation in our country.

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Hamza Zuberi

Dec 17, 2014 02:51pm

Ban Emirates for good!

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p r sharma

Dec 17, 2014 03:48pm

@Vicky : commercial operations/ activities are not driven by emotions but based on ground realities. It is not a childish decision rather a prudent decision to safe guard their operation. In commercial world you have to be selfish to survive and grow.

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Rizwan

Dec 17, 2014 03:53pm

Govt must ban Emirates flights in the country. greedy peoples , PIA had helped them to be what they are right now.

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Whiskey Khan

Dec 17, 2014 05:11pm

For the safety of its customers and equipments ,A wise decision by the airline. Let's not forget the price paid by innocents souls of Malaysian Airline. Most of the foreign Airline do not operate in Pakistan. Planes can be replaced but not Human souls.

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msm

Dec 17, 2014 07:20pm

Instead of suspending Emirates flights to Peshawar, suspend funding the terrorist organizations and Madressas in Pakistan, if you are concerned with stopping terrorist activities in Pakistan.

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Modern Citizen

Dec 17, 2014 10:11pm

@Rizwan "PIA helped them"??? Where are you living my friend? Emirates is a world class airline and cannot be compared to tiny PIA.

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Junaid

Dec 17, 2014 10:19pm

@Aamir Khan Very well said. This is one of the big drawback of our country is the fact they bring emotions into their decisions. What Emirate did, is 100% correct. Any organization with a sense of responsibility will do that. God forbid, if something happens to the plane full of passenger, who will be responsible. Questions will be asked why precautions were not taken. Same goes for the army and the govt. when they knew Zarb e Azb will have repercussions, why no security measure were not taken? Some one has to answer.

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