Fly Jinnah Overtakes PIA as Pakistan’s Biggest Domestic Airline
Jinnah International Airport, Karachi — Fly Jinnah's home base (file photo)
KARACHI: A quiet changing of the guard has taken place in Pakistan’s skies. Fly Jinnah, the private budget airline that only began flying four years ago, is now the country’s biggest carrier on domestic routes — ahead of the national airline, PIA, on its home turf.
Figures from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority for the financial year 2024-25 put Fly Jinnah’s domestic passenger count at 1,967,570, against PIA’s 1,851,782. The gap is about 116,000 passengers. That is not a rounding error or a good month; it is a lead built up over a full year of flying.
PIA still leads international travel
One qualification matters, and it is a big one: this is a domestic crown only. On international routes PIA remains far ahead, carrying more than 2.8 million passengers in the same period against Fly Jinnah’s roughly 600,000. The flag carrier has lost the home market lead, not its international standing.
Where the rest stand
Airblue came third domestically with about 1.004 million passengers, followed by AirSial at 813,000. In all, 37 airlines provide air services in Pakistan — five domestic and 32 international. The domestic five are Fly Jinnah, PIA, Airblue, AirSial and South Air; SereneAir has been inactive since October 2025.
Fly Jinnah is a Karachi-based joint venture of the Lakson Group and Air Arabia, and it started domestic operations on 31 October 2022 with a Karachi–Islamabad flight. Low fares and a focus on domestic routes have carried it to the top in four years. For passengers, the meaning of the shift is straightforward: more flights, more choice, and pressure on fares — as long as the competition lasts.
