ISLAMABAD – Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was banned from operation in Europe and other destinations not only due to the issue of fake licenses of pilots but other factors also contributed to the harsh decision.
In this regard, the lawmakers were recently informed that a warning issued to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) about safety concerns a year ago also triggered the ban on the national carrier.
During a Senate Standing Committee meeting on Aviation chaired by Senator Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo on Monday, Senator Saleem Mandviwalla informed the participants that a year before the license issue, PCCA had received a warning about safety concerns; the secretary aviation also confirmed the same.
The participants were informed that the PCAA was equipped with the latest system for air traffic management and navigation system.
During the meeting, Senator Sherry Rehman inquired why civil aviation was allowed to conduct the exams for licenses and put out a list of so-called fake licenses at the same time, Dawn News reported.
As far as the ban on PIA is concerned, the PIA chief executive officer informed the lawmakers that the majority of the air safety concerns had already been addressed.
The committee members also expressed dissatisfaction with the working of the CAA and the prolonged unresolved issues affecting the airlines. On the reservations, the secretary aviation assured the committee that the pilots’ issue would be resolved in two weeks.
It is to be mentioned that 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 stated 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.
It is to be highlighted that while Pakistani airlines can’t fly to Europe, PIA still operates a non-stop 14-hour flight to Canada from Lahore.
Interestingly, the caretaker regime had decided in principle to privatize the national carrier for which a consultant was also hired and efforts have been ramped up to finalize the privatization. It is expected that the process for the sell-off will be done by October.
