British Airways resumes Pakistan flights

Planes are most vulnerable at take off or landing

One of Europe's biggest airlines, British Airways, is to resume flights to Pakistan.

BA halted flights there following the 11 September hijacking attacks in the United States.

"We are now satisfied that it is safe for us to resume our flights," a BA spokesman said on Wednesday.

This year BA has imposed temporary bans on flights to Kenya and Saudi Arabia.

'Additional security'

BA's director of safety and security, Geoff Want, said Wednesday's announcement came after close co-operation between the company and the Pakistani authorities.

"A number of additional, robust and sustainable security measures have been introduced," he told journalists in London.

"We will not fly to any destination unless we are satisfied it is safe for us to do so."

Earlier this month BA confirmed it was considering fitting anti-missile systems to its aircraft to protect against terror attacks.

In August, BA suspended flights to Saudi Arabia for three weeks after the UK Government said it had received "credible intelligence of a serious threat to UK aviation interests in Saudi Arabia".

Restrictions were also placed on flights by BA and other UK airlines to Kenya in May following intelligence that British planes could be terrorist targets.