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Foreign airlines repatriate $2.4bn from Pakistan yearlyBusiness
Foreign airlines are taking an estimated $2.4 billion out of Pakistan every year through ticket sales, with Gulf carriers holding the largest share.
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Foreign airlines are repatriating an estimated $2.4 billion from Pakistan every year through the sale of air tickets, according to a report, underlining how much of the country’s international travel spending flows abroad.
The scale of the market is striking. According to Civil Aviation Authority data for the 2024-25 fiscal year, 37 airlines operate in Pakistan — five Pakistani carriers and 32 foreign airlines — carrying between 15 million and 16 million international passengers a year.
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Gulf carriers lead the market
Emirates holds the largest share of the market for passengers travelling from Pakistan to international destinations, with an estimated 18 to 20 percent share. The airline is estimated to sell about $1.2 billion worth of air tickets from Pakistan each year, a figure that does not include revenue from cargo operations.
Qatar Airways follows with annual revenue from Pakistan estimated at $800 to $900 million, while Saudi Airlines is estimated to earn between $700 and $750 million a year from ticket sales in the country. Taken together, the three Gulf carriers account for the bulk of the money leaving Pakistan through air ticket sales.
Overall, approximately two-thirds of the revenue generated from the sale of international air tickets in Pakistan goes to foreign airlines, leaving around a third for the country’s own carriers, including PIA, Airblue and Fly Jinnah.
Warning over local carriers
The Competition Commission of Pakistan has said the country must strengthen its own airlines, warning that otherwise a significant portion of the revenue generated from international air travel will continue to flow abroad.
The repatriation of airline earnings has been a recurring strain on Pakistan’s aviation sector. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in April 2024 that $399 million of airline revenues was blocked in Pakistan, and by October that year the figure still stood at $311 million. IATA has pressed Pakistan to simplify the repatriation process, under which airlines must provide an auditor’s certificate and a tax exemption certificate with each remittance.
IATA has said Pakistan’s aviation sector supported around 425,000 jobs and $2.8 billion in economic activity before the pandemic, and that passenger numbers recovered to pre-Covid levels in 2023, with growth of more than two and a half times expected by 2040. The latest figures underline the challenge for local carriers seeking a larger share of that growing market.
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