Emirates: Wizz Air Abu Dhabi has applied for a licence to operate flights to Pakistan and is going through an administrative process.

However, the ultra-low-fare national airline of the UAE has not yet decided on the date and destinations to the South Asian country.

“Wizz Air Abu Dhabi is not flying to destinations in Pakistan right now. The airline is going through an administrative process and receiving the permit from Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority is the first step to serving Pakistan,” Wizz Air said in a statement sent to Khaleej Times on Tuesday.

“Currently, there is no further information on when the airline will start operations and to which destinations in Pakistan,” it added.

Wizz Air will be the fifth UAE-based airline to fly to Pakistan once it gets go-ahead from the Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority to launch flights.

Currently, Emirates, flydubai, Air Arabia and Etihad Airways operate flights to the Pakistani cities of Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Multan and Sialkot. In addition, Pakistan’s national carrier PIA and private airlines Airblue and Serene Air also operate direct flights between the two countries.

The Abu Dhabi-based carrier currently serves markets in the GCC, Middle East, CIS countries and Eastern Europe.

In 2022, Wizz Air Abu Dhabi operated more than 6,000 flights and transported more than 1.2 million travellers. The airline carried over 600,000 point-to-point passengers to the UAE in 2022.

The addition of Wizz Air Abu Dhabi on the UAE-Pakistan route will benefit budget-conscious passengers and will give a good run to competitors for their money on this new route.

The UAE-Pakistan air corridor is one of the busiest in the region as there are around 1.6 million Pakistani citizens living and working in the UAE and millions of tourists from Pakistan visit the Emirates every year.