ISLAMABAD – In a surprising turn of events, the team of Transport Canada has canceled its scheduled visit to Pakistan, it emerged on Sunday.
The team was due in Pakistan with a focus on conducting the audit of airports and flight security in the first week of December; however, the visit has been postponed now.
The Transport Canada delegation had to visit Pakistan in the first week of December for an audit of Pakistani airports and flight operations to Canada and preparations were underway by the Pakistani aviation officials.
Transport Canada’s two-member delegation had to start the audit on Monday and Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport had to be examined as part of the inspection.
In a sudden development, it has been revealed now that the Canadian transportation agency has postponed its Pakistan visit and the next date will be given in 2024, ARY News reported.
Earlier, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) team completed its safety audit of the national flag carrier of Pakistan and inspected different allied functions related to aviation.
Pakistan International Airlines has not been able to resume flights to the United Kingdom and other European destinations after the former Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan raised concerns about the licenses of the pilots, inviting a ban from the European Union.
The former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar had announced that flight operations to the United Kingdom would be resumed in October though no substantial result has been achieved in this regard.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani government is also privatising the national carrier and a consultant has also been hired in this regard. Estimates say that the privatization process would take at least a few months as the liabilities and the assets of the airline need to be settled.
