ISLAMABAD – The national carrier of Pakistan is set to expand international operations to destinations in Europe and the United Kingdom as a comprehensive strategy is being chalked out.
PIA’s Chief Commercial Officer, Nausherwan Adil held a meeting with travel agents in Lahore and confirmed that flights to Europe will resume immediately after the EU lifts the restrictions.
The official also highlighted that the ban on flights to the UK is also likely to end soon and plans to resume flights to the UK have also been completed.
The PIA official lavished praise on travel agents for standing by the national carrier in tough times, branding them as the airline’s “business partners”.
The PIA official revealed that the airline plans to increase the size of its fleet as part of its future business plan, adding that a large number of Pakistanis reside overseas and travel to the country every year.
Adil elaborated that all possible steps were being taken to provide direct flights to the country to overseas Pakistanis.
As far as the major chunk of revenue is concerned, the PIA official said that Lahore was the top station in terms of generating income.
It is to be highlighted that flights to European destinations and the United Kingdom came to a halt a few years ago after multiple issues related to safety popped up.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended the authorization for the PIA to operate in European Union member countries in 2020; the ban was announced after multiple crash incidents and a statement by the then minister about fake licenses acquired by the national flag carrier’s pilots.
EASA said that they had suspended the Third Country Operator (TCO) Authorisation to PIA after it failed to comply with the proposed corrective action plans (CAPs).
At least six findings were raised with the PIA officials during meetings in June and September 2019, out of which five of the action plans were implemented while one other concerning element of a Safety Management System was not implemented.
Interestingly, the caretaker regime had decided in principle to privatize the national carrier for which a consultant had also been hired. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has asked the Aviation ministry to finalize the privatization by Juen this year.
