KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) flights to Europe will remain banned as certain conditions put to the flag carrier were still not met, according to the European Union Commission.
The suspension, imposed by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), took effect on July 1, 2020, after it came to light that pilots possessed fake licences, as put by the aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar.
The European Commission informed that the aviation department of Pakistan needs to make it’s pilot licensing authority more transparent. “Issuance of licenses to pilots has to be via a fool-proof protocol,” they added.
The EASA, in the letter, expressed satisfaction over certain steps taken by the Civil Aviation Authority to improve the situation. However, it said that Pakistan’s aviation department needs to make it’s pilot licensing authority more transparent.
“On 16 November 2020, your organisation provided the agency with a comprehensive set of documents as evidence to support the Implementation of the agreed Corrective Action Plan [CAP] for the remaining open level 1 finding related to identifying issues in your Safety Management System,” the letter said.
It further stated, “The Agency reviewed the submitted material and found it satisfactory and sufficient as a first important step towards the closure of the above-mentioned finding.”
However, the agency said that the conditions that it had laid down in ART 205(c)(2) were not met. “We propose to contact you for a next update of the situation as soon as the concerns regarding the issuance of professional licenses are investigated in full and satisfactorily resolved,” the letter added.
The ban was a big blow to the airline, which was already under scrutiny across the world due to recently uncovered pitfalls within Pakistan’s aviation industry, such as pilots possessing fake licences as put by the aviation minister.
