Category: travel

Pakistanis Think the Migration Door Is Closing. The Truth Is More Uncomfortable

Pakistani professionals can hold recognised degrees and approved skills assessments yet wait years for migration opportunities. Australia, Canada and Germany still need foreign talent, but official data reveal a shift toward specific skills, experience and labour-market fit.

A few days ago, I was listening to the familiar Pakistani discussion about migration. Britain is becoming tougher. Canada is cutting immigration. Australia has become difficult. Germany no longer offers the easy professional future many young people imagined.

Then I thought about my own son.

He is an engineer. He went through the professional assessment process for Australia and received a positive assessment from Engineers Australia. Yet years have passed without the immigration outcome we once imagined would follow from being a qualified engineer.

That experience forced me to ask a different question. What if the migration door has not simply closed? What if countries such as Australia and Canada are still looking for immigrants, but have become much more precise about which immigrants they want, where they need them and how quickly those migrants can contribute?

A Qualified Engineer Is Not Necessarily an Invited Engineer

Australia provides perhaps the clearest example. Engineers Australia is authorised to assess qualifications, skills and experience for engineering migration occupations. A successful assessment is important, but Engineers Australia does not award migration points. Visa decisions belong to the Department of Home Affairs.

Australia’s SkillSelect system makes the distinction even clearer. A person interested in Skilled Independent subclass 189, Skilled Nominated subclass 190 or Skilled Work Regional subclass 491 first submits an Expression of Interest. The formal threshold is 65 points, but Home Affairs explicitly warns that reaching the threshold does not guarantee an invitation.

Competition matters. In Australia’s published invitation-round data, some occupations required substantially more than 65 points. In the latest published table available when I checked, Chemical Engineer required 85 points. Civil Engineering Draftsperson and Construction Project Manager were also at 85. The exact score varies by occupation and round.

A Pakistani family can therefore truthfully say, “Our son is a professionally assessed engineer.” Australia can simultaneously say, “We have not invited him.” Both statements can be correct.

Australia Still Wants Skilled Migrants

This is where the popular narrative starts to break down. Australia has not abandoned skilled migration.

For 2026–27, the permanent migration program is set at 185,000 places. Skilled migration accounts for 132,240. The Skilled Independent category rises to 21,090 places, while employer-sponsored migration receives 58,040 places.

Those numbers do not describe a country that has stopped wanting skilled migrants. They describe a country making choices about how migration connects to its labour market. The government also says the 2026–27 program will prioritise migrants already living in Australia.

Qualification remains important. Connection to actual demand may matter even more.

A Shortage Does Not Mean Every Applicant Is Needed

I often hear Pakistanis say, “My occupation is in shortage in Australia, so why am I not getting immigration?” The question sounds reasonable. It rests on a faulty assumption.

A shortage does not mean every qualified overseas applicant is required. The 2025 Occupation Shortage List found that 29 percent of assessed occupations were in shortage, down from 33 percent in 2024 and 36 percent in 2023. Shortages persisted particularly in health and construction.

Jobs and Skills Australia also reported an important problem in some professional occupations, including engineering: employers could encounter gaps in employability skills and experience even among qualified candidates.

Pause over that finding. The problem is not always an absence of degrees. Employers may find qualified people without enough of the particular experience or workplace capability they require.

The Plumber and the MBA

This brings me to an uncomfortable Pakistani habit. A university degree carries enormous social prestige. Parents proudly say their son is an engineer, doctor or MBA. Skilled manual work occupies a different social position. A plumber does not usually receive the same admiration at a Karachi family gathering.

International labour markets have no obligation to respect our hierarchy.

Canada demonstrates the point. Its 2026 Express Entry category-based selection includes healthcare and social services, STEM occupations and trades among targeted categories. The trade category includes electricians, plumbers, carpenters and welders. It also covers heavy-duty equipment mechanics and heating, refrigeration and air-conditioning mechanics.

Engineers have not disappeared. Canada’s STEM category includes civil, mechanical, electrical and electronics engineers among other occupations.

The lesson is not “forget university and become a plumber.” That would replace one simplistic migration formula with another. The more useful conclusion is this: a profession’s social prestige in Pakistan tells us very little about its migration value overseas.

Germany Shows What AI Is Doing to the Equation

Germany adds another layer. I recently saw a comment from a Pakistani woman whose husband was completing a master’s degree in Germany. He had IT experience from his student years, she said, yet he was struggling to find even a junior-level job. One comment proves nothing about an entire labour market.

German government data, however, show why the experience is plausible. Germany’s Federal Employment Agency reported in July 2026 that registered ICT vacancies had fallen 22 percent in 2025. ICT unemployment rose from 3.7 percent to 4.5 percent.

Yet Germany still employed about 1.15 million ICT professionals subject to social-security contributions, and foreign ICT specialists numbered about 171,000 in 2025. Germany can therefore need foreign technology workers while a particular international graduate struggles to find a junior job.

AI helps explain part of the tension. The Federal Employment Agency says digitalisation, automation and AI are raising skill requirements in ICT. More than 40 percent of the 39,000 new ICT jobs identified in its analysis were for experts.

Germany has not stopped needing technology workers. It increasingly needs workers who can perform at a higher level.

Migration Is Becoming a Matching System

I think we have been asking the wrong question in Pakistan. We ask: Which country is easy for immigration? That encourages people to chase countries.

A more useful question is: Where does my particular combination of occupation, experience and language ability match demand strongly enough for an employer or government to choose me?

Australia’s latest policies make that logic visible. From 19 September 2026, its skilled-visa processing priorities give priority to applications connected with sectors including construction, healthcare and teaching. Agriculture and resources are also included.

Canada selects occupational categories around economic goals and labour-market information. Germany still wants foreign ICT expertise while technological change raises what employers expect. These are different systems, but each illustrates a basic pressure: governments increasingly want migration to solve identifiable labour-market problems.

What About the Pakistani Passport?

Here we need discipline. Online discussions quickly move from labour shortages to claims about Pakistanis submitting fake degrees, abusing asylum systems, committing crimes overseas or refusing to integrate.

Individual cases do not establish population-wide behaviour. Nor does a YouTube comment establish that Pakistani Americans avoid taxes, that Pakistanis are uniquely difficult to integrate, or that criminal behaviour by Pakistanis explains a particular country’s immigration policy. Those claims require comparative evidence.

I found much stronger official evidence for another explanation: governments are adjusting immigration systems around labour demand, program capacity and domestic economic priorities. That explanation is less sensational. It is also more useful.

My Son’s Experience Changed How I Read the System

When I look at my son’s experience now, I see it differently. A positive Engineers Australia assessment remains valuable. It establishes professional recognition for migration purposes.

But professional recognition answers one question: Are you appropriately qualified in the nominated engineering occupation?

SkillSelect asks another: Are you competitive enough to be invited under the migration settings operating now?

The labour market asks something harder still: Does an Australian employer need what you can do?

Those questions are not interchangeable. There is also a practical warning for anyone who has been waiting for years. An Australian SkillSelect EOI remains active for two years and is then archived. Applicants can update an active EOI when circumstances change.

Pakistan Needs a Different Migration Conversation

I would not tell a young Pakistani that foreign migration is finished. The evidence does not support that conclusion.

But I would no longer tell a young person that getting the right degree is enough. Before spending millions of rupees on foreign education, investigate official labour data. Check the exact occupation rather than the broad industry. Study the immigration route separately from the university-admission route.

Then ask the uncomfortable question: what evidence can I show that I can actually do the work?

A degree proves education. A professional assessment proves something else. An immigration invitation is another test entirely. An employer willing to pay for your skills may be the strongest market signal of all.

For Pakistani families, that may be the real migration shock of 2026.

The door has not disappeared. But the key we spent years polishing may no longer fit every lock.

EES 2026: What Pakistani Travellers to Europe Need to Know About Fingerprints, Facial Scans and the 90-Day Rule

Europe’s Entry/Exit System is now fully operational. Here is what Pakistani short-stay travellers need to know about biometric border checks, passport stamps, the 90/180-day rule, exemptions and ETIAS.

I know the old routine well. A Pakistani traveller leaves Karachi with a passport, a Schengen visa, hotel details or a family invitation tucked into the hand luggage. After landing in Europe, the decisive moment comes at passport control: a border officer checks the documents, asks a few questions and, if everything is in order, stamps the passport.

That familiar stamp has largely disappeared for short-stay visitors entering the Schengen area.

Europe’s Entry/Exit System (EES) became fully operational on 10 April 2026 after a phased rollout that began in October 2025. For eligible non-EU travellers, the external Schengen border is now a digital border. The system records travel-document details, biometric information, and the date and place of entry and exit. It also records refusals of entry.

For Pakistanis making short visits to Europe, this is more than a technical change at immigration. The EES creates a digital travel history that makes the old passport-stamp arithmetic far less important. It can identify overstays automatically. It can also make previous refusals visible to border authorities using the system.

What exactly has changed at the European border?

The EES covers non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay in the 29 European countries using the system. A short stay normally means no more than 90 days in any 180-day period across the countries concerned. The Council of the European Union explains that the system replaces manual passport stamping with electronic registration.

Suppose you fly from Karachi to Munich on a short-stay Schengen visa. Munich is your first external Schengen border. Your EES interaction happens there. If you later travel from Germany to France or Italy, you normally do not repeat an external-border registration simply because you crossed an internal Schengen border.

At the external border, EES can record your name and passport details, the place and date of entry, a facial image and required fingerprint data. When you leave, the exit is recorded as well. On later journeys, border officials can verify the biometric information already associated with your file rather than creating an entirely new identity record each time.

The European Commission says the system had already registered more than 145 million entries and exits by July 2026. It is therefore no longer a future proposal or a trial that Pakistani travellers can ignore. It is part of the operating border system.

Does EES mean every Pakistani will be fingerprinted?

No. This point needs care because headlines can easily overstate the rule.

EES generally applies to Pakistani nationals making eligible short stays because Pakistani citizens require a Schengen visa. But important exemptions exist. The European Commission’s July 2026 guidance says non-EU nationals holding a qualifying long-stay visa or residence permit issued by a country operating EES are generally not registered in the system. Certain non-EU family members of EU or associated-country citizens who hold the relevant residence documentation are also exempt.

Children under 12 are exempt from the requirement to provide fingerprints under the EES regulation. That does not mean the system simply ignores a child travelling on a short stay. Other applicable identity and entry information can still be recorded.

The practical lesson is simple: do not assume that “Pakistani passport” alone determines the procedure. Your immigration status and the type of document under which you travel matter.

The 90-days-in-180 rule has not disappeared

I expect this to become the most important part of EES for frequent Pakistani visitors, particularly parents visiting children in Germany, France or other Schengen countries.

EES does not give you extra days in Europe. It helps authorities calculate the days more accurately.

For an ordinary short stay, the familiar limit remains up to 90 days in any rolling 180-day period. The European Commission provides an official short-stay calculator to help travellers check compliance.

Under the old system, travellers often looked through passport stamps and counted days themselves. That could become confusing after several visits. EES digitally records entries and exits and is designed to detect people who exceed their authorised stay.

That makes casual assumptions dangerous. A multiple-entry visa valid for one year does not automatically mean that its holder can remain in the Schengen area for a full year. Visa validity, the authorised duration of stay and the 90/180 calculation are separate issues. Travellers should check the conditions printed on the visa and their actual travel history.

A valid Schengen visa still does not guarantee admission

This part has not changed merely because the border has become digital.

A visa allows you to travel to the border and request entry. Border authorities still apply the Schengen entry rules. They can ask about the purpose of the visit and supporting arrangements. A traveller may need to show evidence appropriate to the trip, such as accommodation details, an invitation, a return or onward journey, or sufficient means for the stay.

The EES also records refusals of entry. The European Commission reported in March 2026 that during the rollout more than 24,000 people had been refused entry for reasons including inadequate justification of their visit and expired or fraudulent documents. It said EES records can allow authorities in another participating country to see a previous refusal.

For a genuine visitor, the sensible response is not fear. It is consistency. Your visa application, stated purpose at the border and supporting documents should tell the same story.

What happens to the passport stamp?

For travellers registered through EES, the digital entry and exit record replaces the routine manual stamp used to track a short stay. The Commission states that EES has replaced passport stamping at external borders for travellers covered by the system.

Some travellers may miss the stamps. They were useful souvenirs, and I have often looked at old passports to reconstruct journeys. Administratively, however, the European system is moving in the opposite direction. The border record now sits in a database rather than on a page that a traveller can misread, lose with an old passport or present under a different identity.

EES is not ETIAS

This confusion is already producing poor travel advice online.

EES and ETIAS are different systems. EES is the border-registration system already operating. ETIAS is a travel authorisation for nationals of countries that can visit the relevant European countries without a short-stay visa. The European Commission says ETIAS is scheduled to start in the last quarter of 2026, with the precise date to be announced officially.

Pakistani citizens normally require a Schengen visa for short visits. ETIAS therefore does not replace the Schengen visa for an ordinary Pakistani passport holder. EES, by contrast, does affect eligible Pakistani short-stay visitors when they cross an external border.

If somebody tells a Pakistani traveller to “apply for ETIAS instead of a Schengen visa,” treat that advice with suspicion.

What should you prepare before leaving Karachi?

The introduction of EES does not require an ordinary Pakistani short-stay visa holder to complete some new EES application before boarding the aircraft. Registration takes place in connection with the external border crossing.

Your preparation should instead focus on the journey you are actually making. Check that your passport and visa are valid for the intended trip. Keep the documents that support the purpose of your visit readily accessible rather than buried in checked baggage. Know where you will stay and how long you intend to remain. If you have made several recent Schengen trips, calculate your remaining allowance before departure rather than relying on memory.

Travellers visiting relatives should also understand the difference between sponsorship and admission. An invitation from a daughter, son or other relative can support the purpose and financing of a trip, but it does not abolish border checks. The immigration officer still applies the entry rules to the traveller standing at the counter.

The EU Delegation to Pakistan has specifically informed Pakistani travellers about the EES rollout and directs travellers to the official European system for details. That is a better source than viral WhatsApp messages or travel-agent claims about supposed new “European permits.”

The deeper change is accountability

When I look at EES from Karachi, the fingerprint scanner is not the most interesting part.

The real change is that Europe’s external border is becoming less dependent on what can be inferred from ink in a passport. The system links identity, biometrics and travel movements in a digital record. According to the EU, one purpose is to identify overstayers more efficiently and make identity fraud harder.

That can help legitimate travellers too. A properly recorded exit provides evidence that a visitor left within the authorised period. Subsequent border crossings can use biometric verification against an existing record. The Commission presents this as both a security measure and a way to make later checks more efficient.

Still, digital borders deserve scrutiny. Biometric systems hold highly sensitive personal information, and European law sets rules governing access, retention and data protection. Travellers should understand that the convenience of losing the passport stamp comes with a much more systematic record of movement.

For Pakistani travellers, the old border habit is over

A Pakistani family landing in Munich today may still see the same immigration booths and the same queue signs. The officer may ask familiar questions. Yet the machinery behind that encounter has changed.

Europe now records eligible short-stay entries and exits electronically. It can calculate overstays without relying on a collection of stamps. Biometrics make it harder to separate a traveller’s identity from previous border encounters.

None of this should alarm a Pakistani traveller who has a genuine visit, valid documents and a clear travel history. It should change one habit, though.

Do not think of a Schengen journey only in terms of obtaining the visa.

The visa gets you to Europe’s door. EES increasingly records what happens when you cross it, and when you come back out.

Your Karachi Flight May Leave on Time. Your Gulf Connection Is Now the Risk.

Middle East airspace tensions are changing the risks for Pakistani travellers connecting through Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi. The airports remain open, but delays, rerouting and sudden cancellations mean passengers should pay closer attention to connections, ticket protection and travel insurance.

A traveller can stand at Karachi airport, look at the departure board and see exactly what he wants to see: On Time.

His flight to Dubai is operating. His passport is ready. His luggage has been checked in. Somewhere in his hand luggage sits the boarding pass for the second flight to Europe.

I used to think that once the first flight left Karachi, most of the uncertainty was over.

In the Middle East of September 2026, I would no longer make that assumption.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports remain operational. Gulf airlines continue to fly large networks. Yet cancellations, lengthy delays and route changes have appeared across the region as airlines respond to security developments, airspace risks and regulatory restrictions.

For Pakistani passengers, the important question is therefore changing.

It is no longer simply: Is my flight from Karachi operating?

It is also: What happens to my journey after I reach the Gulf?

The Gulf Hub Made International Travel Easier for Pakistan

For decades, geography has worked in Pakistan’s favour.

Karachi sits only a relatively short flight from the Gulf. Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi turned that proximity into an enormous international transport advantage. A passenger from Pakistan could reach a Gulf hub and connect onwards to Europe, North America or Africa without relying on a Pakistani airline to operate the entire journey.

The model works because the hub behaves almost like a giant railway interchange in the sky.

Aircraft arrive from dozens of cities. Passengers change planes. The airline then redistributes them across its global network.

That system depends on something travellers rarely think about when everything works normally: predictable airspace.

The assumption has weakened in 2026.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency, or EASA, currently maintains a conflict-zone information bulletin covering the airspace of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Its bulletin includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. The current revision was issued on 31 August and is valid through 30 September unless reviewed earlier.

EASA says the regional security situation remains volatile and identifies risks associated with military activity around the Gulf.

That does not mean Gulf airports are closed. Nor does it mean a passenger should assume his flight will be cancelled.

It means airlines are operating inside a more complicated risk environment than the familiar Karachi-Dubai-Frankfurt itinerary on a booking screen suggests.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi Are Still Operating

This distinction matters.

Reports of Middle East aviation disruption can easily create the impression that Dubai or Abu Dhabi has effectively stopped functioning. That is not what the evidence shows.

On 25 September, Gulf News reported that Dubai International and Abu Dhabi’s Zayed International Airport remained operational while airlines continued to adjust schedules. Some services were delayed or cancelled, and passengers were being advised to check their flight status before travelling to the airport.

The pattern is uneven.

One flight operates normally. Another leaves late. A third disappears from the schedule.

That unevenness creates a particular problem for connecting passengers.

A traveller whose Karachi-Dubai flight operates may still encounter trouble if the Dubai-Europe sector changes. A delay on the first sector can also destroy what looked like a comfortable connection when the ticket was purchased.

The airport can remain open while an individual journey falls apart.

A New UAE Decision Shows How Quickly Conditions Can Change

On 24 September, the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority announced that flights operated by Iranian airlines to and from the UAE had been suspended until further notice.

For most Pakistanis travelling through Dubai, this does not directly cancel an Emirates flight from Karachi.

Its importance lies elsewhere.

A regulatory decision can alter part of the regional aviation network almost immediately.

Airlines do not operate only according to passenger demand and published timetables. They must also respond to airspace restrictions, government decisions and security assessments.

A route printed on a ticket weeks earlier is therefore a plan, not a guarantee.

Why Airspace Matters Even When Your Destination Is Peaceful

I find this part easy to underestimate.

A Pakistani traveller may be flying from Karachi to Munich. Neither city is part of the Gulf conflict zone. He may reasonably wonder why developments elsewhere in the Middle East should concern him.

Look at the route rather than the destination.

An aircraft does not move between two airport codes in a straight line without constraints. Airlines must select safe and legally available airspace. When particular corridors become risky or unavailable, aircraft may have to take longer routes.

That can increase flying time.

It can also disturb aircraft rotations. A plane arriving late in Dubai may operate another service later that day. Crew-duty limits matter as well. Disruption can therefore travel through an airline’s network even when the passenger’s own destination is far from the original problem.

flydubai’s operational guidance illustrates the mechanism. The airline has warned that flight durations and Dubai transit times may become longer when flight paths have to be temporarily rerouted. It advises passengers to keep checking flight status and operational updates.

The British government’s current travel advice for Pakistan also warns that regional tensions can cause travel disruption and advises passengers to check with airlines before travelling.

The disruption does not need to reach Karachi physically to affect someone leaving Karachi.

The Connection Is Where the Financial Risk Appears

Now imagine two travellers.

Both are flying Karachi-Dubai-Munich.

One has bought the entire journey on a single through-ticket. The other has found a cheaper combination online: Karachi-Dubai on one booking and Dubai-Munich on another.

The itineraries may look almost identical on a screen.

Their risk is not necessarily identical.

When flights are booked under one protected itinerary, the operating airline normally has established procedures for dealing with a disrupted connection, subject to its conditions of carriage and the circumstances involved.

Separate tickets can create a harder problem.

If the first flight arrives late and the passenger misses the independently booked second flight, the second carrier may treat him as a no-show. Whether he receives assistance, rebooking or reimbursement will depend on the ticket conditions, applicable passenger-rights rules and any insurance he bought.

This is why I would be cautious about constructing a tight Gulf connection from separate tickets merely to save money.

The cheapest itinerary can become expensive very quickly.

Do Not Treat Every Cancellation as Evidence of War

There is another trap.

Not every delay at Dubai or Abu Dhabi is caused by geopolitical tension.

Airlines experience technical problems. Weather interferes with operations. Air-traffic-control failures occur. Aircraft arrive late from previous sectors.

A useful travel guide must preserve this distinction. Otherwise every delayed flight becomes evidence for a dramatic geopolitical narrative.

The relevant development in September 2026 is narrower.

Regional security conditions have added another source of uncertainty to an aviation system that already deals with ordinary operational disruption.

For the passenger, the cause matters because it may affect rebooking rights and insurance coverage.

Travel Insurance Deserves Another Look

Many Pakistanis still treat travel insurance as a visa document.

Buy the policy. Print the certificate. Put it in the Schengen file.

Finished.

That approach makes less sense when a journey passes through an aviation region exposed to sudden disruption.

A traveller should read what the policy actually covers.

Does it cover a missed connection? What happens after a lengthy delay? Does cancellation caused by armed conflict fall within coverage, or does the policy exclude war and related events?

There is no universal answer.

Policies differ.

What I Would Check Before Leaving Karachi

The old routine was simple. Confirm the ticket, reach Jinnah International Airport early and fly.

I would add another layer now.

First, I would check the individual flight number, not merely whether the airline is operating.

Emirates, Qatar Airways, Etihad and flydubai maintain flight-status or operational-update services. A headline saying an airline is “operating normally” cannot tell you whether your particular service has been delayed.

I would check again before leaving home.

For a connecting journey, I would then check the second sector separately. If the connection has become very tight, I would contact the airline before reaching the transit airport rather than discover the problem at the gate.

I would also make sure the airline has my current mobile number and email address.

There is another precaution I increasingly favour: keep essential medication, documents and a basic change of clothing in cabin baggage within the airline’s allowance.

A six-hour delay is irritating.

An unexpected overnight transit without your checked suitcase is something else.

Pakistani Travellers Should Also Watch the Transit Country

We naturally concentrate on the country printed beside “Destination.”

A Karachi passenger flying to Germany thinks about German immigration. Someone going to Britain checks UK visa rules.

The transit state deserves attention too.

A passenger travelling Karachi-Dubai-London has exposure to conditions in Pakistan, the UAE and Britain during the same journey.

Karachi-Doha-Paris creates another chain.

The ticket may be one document. Operationally, the journey crosses several regulatory and aviation environments.

Should Pakistanis Avoid Gulf Airlines?

The evidence does not support such a sweeping conclusion.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi remain major operating hubs. Gulf carriers continue carrying passengers through their networks despite reduced or adjusted schedules on some routes.

The more useful lesson is about resilience.

A traveller should favour a through-ticket when practical. Extremely tight connections deserve more scrutiny than before. Separate-ticket itineraries require particular caution.

And a passenger should stop treating a confirmed booking as the final word on whether a flight will operate exactly as scheduled.

In calmer times, I might have checked my ticket a day before departure and thought little more about it.

In September 2026, I would check again.

The Departure Board Does Not Tell the Whole Story

Back at Karachi airport, the board can still say On Time.

That remains good news.

But it tells me only that the first piece of my journey is working.

Somewhere beyond Karachi, an airline operations team may be examining airspace. Another government may issue a restriction. An incoming aircraft may already be late because it flew around an unavailable corridor.

None of this means Pakistani travellers should stop travelling.

It means the habits that worked in a predictable aviation system need adjustment.

Check the flight number. Check the connection. Understand what your ticket protects.

Then look at the departure board.

It is still useful.

It just no longer tells the whole story.

Flying from Karachi With a Power Bank? Check the Airline Rule Before You Pack

At Karachi airport, a power bank looks like one of the least important things in a passenger’s bag. Passport, visa, medicines and boarding pass demand more attention. The small battery that keeps a phone alive during a long connection usually goes into a backpack almost without thought. Yet I would now put the power bank on the pre-flight checklist, especially when travelling from Karachi through Dubai or Doha.

The reason is simple. Airlines have tightened their treatment of portable lithium batteries, and the rules are not identical. A power bank acceptable on one airline may create a problem on another.

For a Pakistani traveller, particularly an older passenger making a long international journey, knowing the rule before reaching Jinnah International Airport can prevent an unnecessary argument at security or the boarding gate.

Why Airlines Worry About Power Banks

A power bank contains lithium-ion cells. Under certain conditions, a damaged or defective cell can overheat and enter what battery specialists call thermal runaway.

The location of the battery then becomes important.

If a power bank starts overheating inside the passenger cabin, cabin crew can identify the problem and respond. If the same battery is buried inside checked baggage in the aircraft’s cargo hold, detection and intervention become much more difficult.

For this reason, international aviation rules treat power banks as spare lithium batteries. They belong in cabin baggage, not checked baggage.

I think this distinction is easy to overlook at Karachi airport. Many passengers understand that laptops and phones contain batteries, but a power bank often gets treated like an ordinary charger. It is not. A charger contains electronics; a power bank stores electrical energy in lithium cells.

Qatar Airways Passengers From Karachi

A passenger flying Karachi → Doha → Europe, North America or another destination needs to follow Qatar Airways’ current power-bank restrictions.

Qatar Airways allows a maximum of two power banks per passenger, with each power bank limited to 100 watt-hours (Wh).

They must travel in the cabin.

The airline also prohibits passengers from using power banks during the flight or charging them from the aircraft’s electrical supply. Their terminals should remain protected against accidental short circuits.

Accessibility has also become important. Do not bury the batteries somewhere that makes them difficult to reach.

For a Karachi passenger, I would use a small pouch inside the personal bag kept under the seat. That makes the batteries easy to identify and remove if airline staff ask to inspect them.

Emirates Passengers Face a Stricter Rule

The situation changes if the journey is Karachi → Dubai → onward destination on Emirates.

Emirates introduced tighter power-bank restrictions from 1 October 2025. The airline permits only one power bank per passenger, with a capacity below 100 Wh.

It must remain in the cabin.

More importantly, Emirates does not allow passengers to store the power bank in the overhead locker. It should remain in the seat pocket or inside a bag placed beneath the seat in front.

Passengers also cannot use the power bank to charge another device during the flight. Nor can they recharge the power bank using the aircraft’s electrical supply.

That creates an important practical difference.

A passenger may own two perfectly legal 20,000 mAh power banks. Qatar Airways may permit both within its numerical limit, but an Emirates journey restricts the passenger to one.

The safest habit is therefore not to ask, “Are power banks allowed on international flights?”

Ask instead: What does my operating airline allow?

Is Your 20,000 mAh Power Bank Under 100 Wh?

Here another problem appears.

Most power banks sold in Karachi display their capacity prominently in mAh, or milliamp-hours. Airlines commonly express their limit in Wh, or watt-hours.

Those measurements are related, but they are not identical.

The calculation is:

Wh = (mAh × battery voltage) ÷ 1,000

A typical lithium-ion power bank uses cells with a nominal voltage around 3.7 volts. Using that figure gives a useful approximation.

A 10,000 mAh power bank works out at roughly 37 Wh.

A 20,000 mAh model comes to about 74 Wh.

At 25,000 mAh, the figure is approximately 92.5 Wh. A 27,000 mAh battery sits very close to the 100 Wh boundary.

A 30,000 mAh power bank, however, may exceed 100 Wh.

This is why I would not buy a large power bank for international travel merely because its online description says “travel friendly.” Check the manufacturer’s actual Wh specification first.

Do Not Travel With a Power Bank Whose Label Has Disappeared

There is another small detail that can become a large airport problem.

Look at your power bank before leaving home.

Can you still read its capacity?

Older power banks often have specifications printed in small lettering on the casing. After years inside pockets and travel bags, that printing can fade.

I would retire such a power bank from international travel even if it still works perfectly.

Emirates requires capacity information to be available and clearly visible. More broadly, airport and airline staff need some reliable way of establishing whether a battery falls within the permitted limit.

A passenger standing at a security checkpoint cannot easily prove that an unmarked black box contains a 74 Wh battery rather than one exceeding 100 Wh.

Showing a calculation on your phone may not solve the problem. Nor would I depend on a homemade sticker saying “74 Wh.”

For travel, buy a reputable power bank with permanent, legible manufacturer markings showing its electrical specifications.

The Gate-Check Trap at Karachi Airport

One situation deserves special attention because even an experienced traveller can make this mistake.

You correctly place the power bank inside your cabin trolley.

Everything seems fine.

At the boarding gate, however, airline staff announce that overhead storage is limited. They tag your cabin trolley and tell you that it will travel in the aircraft hold.

Your power bank is now inside baggage that is about to become checked baggage.

Take it out before handing over the trolley.

The same principle applies during an onward connection in Dubai or Doha. A bag accepted as cabin baggage in Karachi might later have to be checked because of aircraft configuration, space restrictions or another operational reason.

This is why I prefer keeping a power bank in a smaller personal bag rather than inside the main cabin suitcase.

The passport and phone are already there. The power bank can stay there too, provided the operating airline’s storage rules are followed.

A Simple Karachi Airport Power-Bank Check

Before leaving home for Jinnah International Airport, I would make four checks.

First, check the airline.
Do not assume Emirates, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines and other carriers follow exactly the same operational rule.

Second, check the capacity.
Look for the manufacturer’s Wh marking. Staying comfortably below 100 Wh removes much of the uncertainty.

Third, check the label.
Make sure the capacity and other specifications remain readable.

Fourth, check the bag.
Never put the power bank into checked luggage. If airline staff take your cabin bag at the gate, remove the power bank first.

There is also a sensible physical precaution. Keep the battery away from loose metal objects that might contact its terminals, and do not travel with a swollen, damaged or unusually hot power bank.

The Rule I Would Remember

Long international journeys from Karachi increasingly depend on the smartphone. Boarding passes sit there. Airline messages arrive there, and the same phone may provide maps or contact with family during a long connection.

So carrying a power bank makes sense.

But I no longer regard it as just another electronic accessory.

For my own packing, I would use a simple rule: a clearly marked power bank below 100 Wh stays with me in the cabin, never inside checked baggage.

Then I would check the operating airline’s latest restriction before leaving for Karachi airport.

The difference between Qatar Airways allowing up to two qualifying power banks and Emirates limiting passengers to one shows why the final check matters. Aviation rules continue to change as airlines respond to lithium-battery incidents.

A small battery can therefore create an unexpectedly large problem at the beginning of a journey.

Better to discover the rule at home than at the security counter.

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