How To Find Cheapest International Flights From Pakistan?

Finding cheap Flights is a game changer. Since it takes up a major chunk of our budget, it is important to know the science behind it. First of all, let’s get some important info about Pakistani Airports and Airlines that fly to and from Pakistan in general.

Pakistan has eight Airports that have international flight operations.

• Jinnah International Airport, Karachi (Airport Code: KHI)
• Allama Iqbal International Airport, Lahore (Airport Code: LHE)
• Benazir Bhutto International Airport, Islamabad (Airport Code: ISB)
• Multan International Airport, Multan (Airport Code: MUX)
• Faisalabad International Airport, Faisalabad (Airport Code: LYP)
• Sialkot International Airport, Sialkot (Airport Code: SKT)
• Bacha Khan International Airport, Peshawar (Airport Code: PEW)
• Quetta International Airport, Quetta (Airport Code: UET)

Many other airports are operational too but for local/domestic flights only. For example, you can fly to Sukkar, and Gawadar from Karachi, etc.

There is no hard and fast rule about from which airport you can find cheap flights but from my general experience of flight bookings over the years, I have seen that flying from Karachi Airport is usually the cheapest of all. Then comes Multan, Lahore, and goes on. Islamabad usually has expensive flights. The best tool to find international flights is Google Flights.

Some important factors about finding cheap flights are as follows.

• The airport you are flying from and landing to:

Usually, big cities like Istanbul have 2 airports. One is with CODE “IST” and the other is with CODE “SAW”. SAW usually handles cheap airlines from different parts of the world. So, when you search for flights, use this "+" option in Google Flights.

You can do this for both sides, arrival and departure. Let's say, you add all airports of Pakistan in Departure and add all airports of Istanbul in Arrival. In this way, you let Google decide which is the cheaper option to fly to and from. You will see wonders!

Select all airports in Pakistan

Select all airports in Istanbul

See what Google has taken out for you, you have options from Sialkot, Lahore, and Karachi and on the arrival side, you can see both airports as well. So this gives you the option to decide before purchasing.

• Week Day and Time of Departure and Arrival

Flights are usually cheaper on weekdays from Monday to Friday. Try to avoid weekends. It can save up to 20-30k in most cases. Overnight or late-night flights are usually cheaper than Early morning flights.

• Direct or Connecting Flight

Connecting flight with a layover is usually cheaper than a Direct flight. Long layovers come in handy sometimes when it comes to lower cost, Look for them!

• How early you are booking your flight before travel

Try to book at least 3 weeks prior to your travel date. Because the close you get to the date, the more expensive flight will get.

• Always use an incognito mode in the browser for online ticket booking in Pakistan

It is recommended to use Google Chrome's Incognito mode on your Browser while searching for flights. It is an important hack to have stable airfares since normal modes of browsers track our cookies and browser history. This activity shows intent that the user is interested in buying that specific ticket. In this way, the airline increases the price automatically sometimes when you search for that ticket twice.

• Using a VPN

It is seen that sometimes tickets on the destination end are cheaper than the departure end. For example, if someone wants to travel from Multan to Doha. It is recommended to look for fares from both cities. How can this be possible because we are in Multan? Of course with choosing Qatar on your VPN. Once you get the cheaper option, you can pay as usual in that currency.

Types of Airlines

There are two types of Airlines that almost all countries offer. One is a Flag carrier and the other one is a budget airline.

In a budget airline, you have the option to leave the following options and it will save cost.

1. Food. Of course, you can stay hungry for a few hours right!? :D
2. Checked Bag (The bag that goes under the plane and not with you in the main compartment). Just book with a hand carry/back bag that usually weighs 7 kg in total.
3. Your favourite seat. If you wanna travel cheaply, you will be allocated a random seat and that is not a window in most cases 😊

The flag carrier is the main or most luxurious airline in the country. In this option, you do not have an option to just have a bag pack as your luggage. You automatically get the checked bag of 20-40 kg and food too.

An example will be Emirates and FlyDubai. Emirates is the luxurious option and FlyDubai is the budget airline. Both fly to the same Airport. Turkish Airlines and Pegasus in the case of Turkiye. Oman Air and Salam Air in Oman and carry on.

Budget Airlines that Fly to Pakistan from different parts of the world are as Follows

• Air Arabia
• FlyDubai
• Salam Air
• Jazeera Airways
• Flynas
• Pegasus Airline

International Air Carriers of Pakistan are following

• Airblue
• AirSial
• Serene Air
• PIA

How to find a cheap flight?

Now I want to take an example to explain how can you cut your prices from destination to arrival. Let's say you want to travel to Istanbul from Lahore. What people normally do is simply put the round-trip flight, put the dates and search on Google Flights.

What you have to do is to set the Filter to One Way Flight and then put your departure date. Then open the full calendar and you will see all the prices for 2 months. Look if you can move a day or 2 to the cheapest date available. After that, do the one-way for your flight back and find the cheapest date. Once you have 2 dates, now do the round trip and put exactly the dates you have found and you will see the lowest fares.

The second hack can be this. Check flights from the nearest airports to Lahore by Road. Sialkot is the nearest and Faisalabad is the second nearest airport to Lahore. Sometimes doing this can save you a big number. Then you can use that money to even do a private car to and from the Sialkot Airport and still save money! Also, you can do this for arrival airport as well. Look for the closest cities or different airports in the same city. For example, sometimes landing at London Heathrow (Main) Airport can be more expensive than the other 3 airports in the same city. London has 4 airports.

The third way is even more smarter and luxurious. Since Karachi offers the cheapest flights from Pakistan (my personal experience). What you can do is to book a domestic flight first from Lahore to Karachi (collect your luggage) and then go from Karachi to your final destination. Google Flight will never show you this option. You will have to do this for yourself. This is a great deal when travelling to far-off routes. Qatar Airways is a popular airline to fly to America from Pakistan, it is usually offers cheaper flights from Multan or Karachi than from Lahore. By cheaper means, you can save up to 40k PKR or so on a return flight.

Sometimes, booking a return (2-way) flight from the same airline can be costlier. Use multiple airlines in this case. But make sure the country you are flying to allows you to do this. Usually, there is no issue but some countries have banned to use 2 different airlines for Pakistanis. Azerbaijan is one of them. You will have to return on the same flight like PIA+PIA, or Jazeera Airways+Jazeera Airways.

Istanbul, Dubai, and European Counties etc do not have this restriction. So simply, use the one-way option on Google Flights for both sides. And book 2 tickets separately.

Last, but not the least, I want to mention Wizz Air. This Airline does not fly to Pakistan but there is a hack that I have explained in the next step.

Wizz Air

Wizz Air is the cheapest airline that I have ever used to travel between two countries. I travelled between Abu Dhabi and Baku as low as 7,500 PKR in June 2022. The total ticket cost me around 16,000 PKR.

Now let’s dig deep into how to use WIZZ AIR from Pakistan.

So WIZZ AIR basically flies from Abu Dhabi which is the capital of UAE. It is the cheapest option a Pakistani citizen can avail to travel to different parts of the world from Abu Dhabi. Some notable names are mentioned below. Azerbaijan, Georgia, Egypt, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Saudia, Uzbekistan, and Turkiye.

First of all, find a cheap return flight from Pakistan to Abu Dhabi. After that book WIZZ AIR from Abu Dhabi to the final destination without checked baggage. It can be as low as 5000 PKR depending on the destination.

Once you have booked flights to and from Abu Dhabi, apply for a free 48 Hour transit visa to Abu

Dhabi. You can apply at this Link.

You have to apply 2 times for a transit visa to travel back to Pakistan. Make sure that you get this visa or you will not be allowed to board a plane in Pakistan. You will need this visa to exit the airport and enter again. Your passport will get stamped at UAE immigration.

This is my Abu Dhabi to Baku Return Flight Price in AED