The Pakistani Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has allowed Shaheen Air International (Karachi International) to resume operations as of August 24, 2018, following a week-long sealing of the carrier's head office due to tax arrears, Pro Pakistani has reported. The airline effectively resumed operations on August 27.

Shaheen's only active aircraft, A330-200 AP-BMI (msn 811), performed a flight from Karachi International to Lahore International on August 27, followed by a Hajj charter to Jeddah International, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.

The airline said it provided a bank guarantee covering the outstanding PKR1.4 billion rupee (USD11.5 million) tax debt to the FBR on August 24. A Shaheen Air spokesperson added that the airline would have done it earlier, but the FRB sealed the office on Friday during the Eid ad-Adha festivities, when banks across the region were closed for business.

The FRB raided and sealed Shaheen's head office in Karachi on August 17 as a part of an ongoing effort to recover the tax arrears. Subsequently, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PkCAA) has also barred the airline from any domestic or international services, pending the settlement of its debt. The carrier was technically allowed to continue operating Hajj charters, but with its offices sealed it was unable to do so and suspended all flights as of August 19.

Dawn reported that the PkCAA also asked the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to take action against the airline to prevent the owners from fleeing abroad. The authority accused CEO Ehsan Khalid Sehbai, Chairman Kashif Khalid Sehbai, and management of the airline of illegally holding the outstanding tax amount since March this year and expressed fears that they may try to evade Pakistani justice by harbouring the money abroad.

According to the FRB, the airline collected a PKR5,000 (USD41) departure tax from each passenger on international routes and PKR2,500 (USD20.5) per passenger on domestic sectors but failed to remit the dues to the fiscus.

Two A320-200s and a further three A330-200s operated by Shaheen Air remain grounded.