Airblue Limited (stylized as airblue) is a private Pakistani airline with its head office on the ground floor of the Islamabad Stock Exchange (ISE) Tower in Islamabad, Pakistan. Airblue operates scheduled domestic and international flights, the latter to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. As of May 2026, the airline serves three countries and 25 routes.
History
Initial years (2003–2010)
The airline was established in 2003 by Tariq Chaudhary, a Pakistani-American IT professional. Airblue started operations on 18 June 2004 with three leased Airbus A320-200 aircraft serving Karachi–Lahore, and Karachi–Islamabad with three daily flights in each direction. The airline was inaugurated in 2004 by Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali.
thumb|An Airblue [[Airbus A320 family|Airbus A320-200 at Dubai International Airport]]
thumb|A now-retired Airblue [[Airbus A340-300 taking off from Istanbul Atatürk Airport after maintenance.]]
thumb|Airblue [[Airbus A321|A321-100]]
During the first years, the airline was profitable, with profit after taxation increasing from Rs. 82 million in 205 to Rs153 million in 2006. During this time, the airline to compete directly with the flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines and the two other private carriers on mostly domestic front, flying more than 400,000 passengers in the first year with a load factor of over 90%. The airline expanded its domestic network to include flights to Peshawar and Quetta. It also had to fly the routes known as socia economic routes or tertiary routes as part of the licence from Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority. Hence flights to Sukkur and Nawabshah were added briefly as part of the tertiary routes under obligation. Due to range issue, the Manchester route was initially routed through Istanbul’s Sabiha Gökçen International Airport, and later via Trabzon airport. These stops were only refueling stops where the plane landed, passengers disembarked and waited in the transit hall. The aircraft refueled and the passengers boarded the plane again to continue their flight to destination.
2010s
Airblue changed its IATA code from ED to PA in June 2012, the new code originally belonged to the defunct and once iconic carrier Pan American World Airways. In 2011 the airline launched service to Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport - a route that was soon terminated.
In June 2012, Airblue finalised an agreement to acquire one Airbus A320 and two leased A340-300s for existing and new international routes. An ATR 72-600 came to Pakistan on wetlease, but the plan was dropped and the leased ATR was returned only 1 week after operations began
In 2018, Chaudhary founded a United States-based subsidiary named Airbahn, planned to operate from Southern California initially using 2 A320 aircraft leased from Airblue. Operations never begun however, and their certificate was rejected in 2022 by the Department of Transportation.
The A340s joined the fleet in October 2012, enabling the airline to strengthen its Manchester route with nonstop flights as well as launch a second UK destination Birmingham in September 2013 and connect both stations with Lahore. The A340s later also flew to the Middle East. Technical issues related to the aircraft eventually led to them being phased out by January 2014; they had been leased for a five-year term. UK operations also ended with Birmingham being dropped after just three months' service and Manchester ending in January 2014.
2020s
In July 2022, AirBlue became the second Pakistani airline to start flights to Skardu International Airport, the highest airport of Pakistan.
On October 2024, AirBlue received its first Airbus A321Neo leased from GE Capital Aviation Services out of two A321Neos ordered. The airline became the first and only operator of an Airbus next-gen airplane in Pakistan.
In June 2025, AirBlue received clearance to operate flights to the UK alongside PIA. After receiving the TCO certificate, the airline hinted at beginning flights to Leeds Bradford Airport, which it had previously served. As of October 2025, there are no clear indications of UK operations beginning soon.
in November 2025, it launched a direct flight from Islamabad to Dammam.
Destinations
Destinations
thumb|[[Islamabad Stock Exchange Towers - Airblue's headquarters]]
Airblue serves the following destinations as of December 2025:
{|class="wikitable sortable"
! Country
! City
! Airport
! Status
! class="unsortable" | Refs
|-
| rowspan="1" |Azerbaijan || Baku || Heydar Aliyev International Airport || || align=center|
|-
| rowspan="1" |China || Guangzhou || Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport || || align=center|
|-
| rowspan="8" |Pakistan || Islamabad || Islamabad International Airport || || align=center|
|-
| Karachi || Jinnah International Airport || || align=center|
|-
| Skardu || Skardu International Airport || || align=center|
|-
| Peshawar || Peshawar Airport || || align=center|
|-
|Jeddah || King Abdulaziz International Airport || ||align=center|
Lounges
Airblue inaugurated its premium lounge at Jinnah International Airport, Karachi in November 2008. It has since been closed. Named the Blue Lounge International, it was designed for business class passengers, credit card holders, and privileged customers. The lounge offered Internet facilities, cable television, newspapers and magazines, massage chairs, and a snack bar. It was located in the international terminal of the airport.
Cargo operations
Airblue has launched an e-Cargo service to cater to air freight markets of Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. According to a press release, e-Cargo will broaden the base of cargo and permit certified agents to book freight directly online opening the inventory through Web.
Fleet
Current fleet
, Airblue operates the following aircraft:
{| class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse; text-align:center; margin: 1em auto"
|-
! style="width:125px;"|Aircraft
! style="width:50px;"|In service
! style="width:50px;" |Orders
! style="width:75px;" |Passenger capacity
! style="width:50px;"|Notes
|-
|Airbus A320-200
|align="center"|5
| align="center" | -
| align="center" |180
|align="center"|
|-
|Airbus A321-200
|align="center"|5
| align="center" | -
| align="center" |220
|align="center"|
|-
|Airbus A321neo
|align="center"|2
| align="center" | -
| align="center" |235
|align="center"|
|-
|Airbus A330-200
| align="center" |—
| align="center" |3
| align="center" |TBA
| align="center" |To be leased.
|}
Former fleet
{| class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse; text-align:center; margin: 1em auto"
|+
|-
!style="width:120px;"|Aircraft
!style="width:90px;"|Introduced
!style="width:70px;"|Retired
|-
|Airbus A319-100
|2008
|2014
|-
|
|2015
|2016
|-
|Airbus A340-300
|2012
|2014
|-
|ATR 72-600
|2015
|2015
|}
Accidents and incidents
thumb| [[Airblue Flight 202, registration AP-BJB crashed as on 28 July 2010. The aircraft is seen here at Manchester Airport on June 24, 2010, 1 month before.]]
- On 28 July 2010, Airblue Flight 202, flying a domestic route from Karachi to Islamabad with 146 passengers and 6 crew on board crashed into the Margalla Hills. The aircraft was on final approach to Benazir Bhutto International Airport during poor weather conditions when the aircraft impacted the Margalla Hills about 10 nm (18.52 km) north of the airport at an elevation of about above the city. Radio contact with the aircraft was lost at approx. 09:45 local time. All 152 passengers and crew on board the aircraft were killed in the crash. The aircraft involved was an Airbus A321-200 registered as AP-BJB.
- On 23 April 2019, an A320, registered AP-EDA and operating PA613 from Sharjah to Peshawar suffered a runway excursion on landing. The aircraft stopped beyond the end of the runway, but still on paved surface. No injuries were reported, and the aircraft was repaired and returned to service.
Partnerships
In November 2017 Airblue extended its partnership with PepsiCo. Airblue had a contractual partnership with the Ukrainian Windrose Airlines for a three-year wet-lease of some Windrose aircraft. These aircraft carried the Windrose livery with Windrose crew and a mixture of Windrose and Airblue cabin crew. This wet-lease expired in 2016.
See also
- List of airlines of Pakistan
- AirSial
- SereneAir
- Fly Jinnah
References
Citations
Bibliography
- Schmitz, Sebastian. "airblue: A New High Flyer from Pakistan". Air International, January 2006, Vol 70 No 1. pp. 56–58. ISSN 0306-5634.
External links
- Official website