EU | PIA
European agency refuses to lift ban on Pakistani flights
Islamabad: European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on Saturday gave a jolt to the Pakistan International Airlines' (PIA) hope of resuming flight service to key destinations in Europe as it conveyed that it would conduct its own evaluation before allowing resumption of flights from Pakistan.
In a letter to Pakistan International Airlines Chief Executive Officer Arshad Malik, EASA Executive Director Patrick Ky said that although Pakistan was able to remove the safety concerns raised by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), this was only part of the process that would lead to a lifting of restrictions on Pakistani airlines, reports The Dawn.
The EASA letter states as quoted by The Dawn, “The closure of this significant safety concern was an important step towards a potential lifting of the suspension of your third country operator authorisation.”
However, it notes that “EASA shall conduct an audit of the operator prior to lifting the suspension. Since deficiencies in state oversight were a contributor to the suspension decision, such [an] audit will have to include an assessment to verify if these deficiencies have been properly addressed and corrected.”
Pakistani carriers had been restricted from flying to EU states for six months in July 2020, after the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) suspended Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) authorisation to operate flights to EU member states.
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