ISLAMABAD – The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has cleared Pakistan’s national carrier in an audit, paving the way for the resumption of international flights to specific destinations.
The audit was done remotely and well-placed sources say that it was conducted a few weeks ago; this precedes a physical audit of Pakistan International Airlines and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) scheduled in September.
It is expected that after the success of the final audit, PIA’s flights to Europe will be restored which will benefit the national carrier currently being made operational through subsidies and government funding.
Earlier last week, Federal Aviation Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique told lawmakers that PIA was likely to resume flights to Britain in the next three months.
The flight operations of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to the United Kingdom and other European destinations were halted due to multiple issues including a statement by former aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar in which he had claimed that the licenses of most of the pilots of the national flag carrier were fake.
Direct flights between UK and Pakistan through Pakistan International Airlines were suspended in July 2020. Not only that, direct flights through other carriers have also been affected.
In 2020, European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight operations for Europe over safety concerns.
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.
Efforts have been made by a member of the UK Parliament, Naz Shah to resume direct flights to Pakistan and in this regard, the MP wrote a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport of the United Kingdom, Mark Harper to permit direct flights between the two countries.
The lawmaker – in her communication in May this year – emphasized that around 2,70,000 Pakistanis residing in the UK are affected by the flight disruption between the two countries.
