The United Kingdom and the European Union (EU) suspended the flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) from Pakistan to and from its airports after controversial aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan declared that nearly 300 PIA pilots suspected permits.
On June 30, the European Union's Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended PIA's approval to operate in Europe for the next six months. Likewise, the British Civil Aviation Authority has canceled PIA flights from Birmingham, London-Heathrow and Manchester with immediate effect.
The move follows the creation of 262 Pakistani pilots whose permits described the country's aviation minister as "questionable." "EASA has temporarily suspended PIA's approval to operate in the EU member states for a period of six months from July 1, 2020 (today) to appeal this decision," the statement said.
A PIA spokesperson confirmed the development in an exclusive interview with The News. He said, "The EU has suspended the PIA for six months from July 1, 2020. This ban follows the controversy surrounding the pilot's license, which has seriously damaged EU confidence."
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The spokesperson confirmed that the PIA will take new confidence-building measures to reverse this decision as soon as possible. About the same development in the UK, the spokesman said he had not received any official correspondence at this time.
Speaking to The News, a spokesman for the British Civil Aviation Authority (UKCAA) said: "Following EASA's decision of 30 June 2020 to suspend PIA's permission to export services to the European Union, Birmingham, London Heathrow airports are from PIA with Manchester with immediate effect.
"The UK Civil Aviation Authority has a legal obligation to withdraw the PIA approval for operations in the UK until EASA has restored approval to meet international aviation safety standards."
There are over 1.6 million British Pakistanis in England who regularly travel to and from the UK to Pakistan. Previously, PIA flew 25 weekly flights to the UK with 7,500 passengers. Prime Minister Imran Khan told parliament that he would reform the PIA and other government agencies.
"I want to tell my country that we have no choice, reforms are inevitable," he said Tuesday. Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said reforms to restructure the PIA will be completed by the end of the year.
On May 22, a PIA flight crashed into homes in Karachi, where 97 people on board the plane were martyred and a child also died on the ground. Investigators accused two pilots of talking about the coronavirus when they first attempted to land the Airbus A320 without turning off the wheels.
PIA said it was allowed to fly over European airspace and had four days of breath to perform service flights for the stranded Pakistanis. In a nightly announcement, the PIA announced that its three destinations, including Oslo, Milan and Paris, would be affected by the ban on EASA. However, the flight was not limited. The PIA is attractive next week and is trying to solve the problem in the shortest possible time, sources told the news agency.
