Bangladesh and Pakistan are to resume direct flights after more than a decade, Dhaka’s national airline said on Thursday.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines is scheduled to fly its first Dhaka-Karachi flight on January 29 and will be operated twice weekly, the first regular flights since 2012.

“We are relaunching the Dhaka-Karachi route with two weekly flights,” airline manager Bosra Islam told AFP on Thursday.

“The resumption of direct flights will significantly improve connectivity between Bangladesh and Pakistan, supporting business travel, tourism, and family reunions,” Biman Bangladesh Airlines said in a statement.

Travellers between Bangladesh and Pakistan must currently use connecting flights through Gulf hubs such as Dubai and Doha.

Cargo ships had resumed sailing from Karachi to Bangladesh’s key port of Chittagong in November 2024.

Last month, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh Imran Haider had expressed the hope that direct flights between Karachi and Dhaka would start in January, during a meeting with the Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.

Relations between Pakistan and Bangladesh remained shaky during the rule of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina. However, following the popular revolt against her government and her subsequent exile, relations between the two countries improved markedly.

Recently, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq travelled to Dhaka for the funeral of the country’s first female prime minister Khaleda Zia in December.

In August 2025, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had also visitd Dhaka and met Yunus.