"This is very welcome news."
Ministers are negotiating to deport Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan, two Rochdale grooming gang leaders convicted in 2012.
Khan and Rauf were jailed for sexually abusing 47 girls, some as young as 12, after giving them alcohol and drugs.
Khan, who fathered a child with a 13-year-old victim, received an eight-year sentence. Rauf was jailed for six years. Both men still live in Rochdale.
Their deportation has been blocked because Pakistan refuses to accept them. The men renounced their Pakistani citizenship and tore up their passports, leaving them stateless.
A Pakistani foreign office official previously said the country might reconsider if the UK lifted its ban on Pakistani airlines flying direct to the UK.
The five-year ban was lifted after Pakistani authorities improved safety standards, potentially opening the door to their deportation.
Labour MP for Rochdale, Paul Waugh, said: “This is very welcome news.
“I know that this decision will have been taken solely on the basis of the safety improvements made by the airline and is not linked to deportations.
“But it indicates exactly the kind of close working relationship we need between the UK and Pakistan to pave the way for the return of Pakistani nationals deported from the UK, including the men convicted for being Rochdale grooming gang members.”
In June 2025, Pakistani government sources said that resuming direct flights could signal progress in deportation talks.
The UK banned all Pakistani airlines in 2021 after discovering dozens of Pakistani pilots held fake licences. Pakistan applied to be removed from the UK Air Safety List, which was recently approved.
A Government spokesperson said: “Decisions on de-listing states and air carriers from the UK Air Safety List is an independent process overseen by the UK Air Safety Committee.
“Following close engagement with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority over several months, the Committee has judged that necessary safety improvements have been made since its original decision in 2021 and has decided to remove Pakistan and its air carriers from the List.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has been leading talks with Pakistan on the return of Rauf and Khan. Home Office ministers are reportedly “working very hard” to reach a deal.
A judge ordered their deportation nearly 10 years ago.
But days before a court appeal against the Home Office order, both men renounced their Pakistani citizenship.
They claim deportation would make them stateless, and Pakistan has refused to take them back. Officials say it is “extremely difficult” to accept such dangerous criminals without citizenship.
The men have repeatedly used the courts and citizenship rules to delay deportation.
The Home Office won a 2018 court of appeal ruling to deport Rauf, Khan, and Abdul Aziz, a third gang member, after stripping them of British citizenship.
However, Rauf and Khan’s renunciation of Pakistani citizenship blocked their deportation. Aziz tore up his passport but was allowed to stay because he could not be made stateless under international law.
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