ISLAMABAD
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is likely to restart its Europe operations in February or March. Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar said this on Thursday, adding the PIA has begun planning in ths regard. The statement comes a day after the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) gave clearance to the Civil Aviation Authority in terms of resolving significant safety concerns. The PIA flights to Europe were suspended in 2020 over safety concerns since Europe’s aviation regulator banned Pakistani airlines from their airspace following a scandal over dubious pilot licences.
The ICAO, a United Nations aviation body, had advised Pakistan in September 2020 to carry out prompt corrective action and stop issuing any new pilot licences after it learnt that bogus licenses may have been issued to unscrupulous elements. The revelation had come following the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft in May last year, which resulted in the deaths of 97 passengers and crew.
Pakistani pilots had faced sanctions after the aviation minister said in the National Assembly that a third of them had dubious or fake licences. In the wake of the scandal, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had taken serious notice and discontinued TCO (Third Country Operator) Authorisation for Pakistani carriers.
