- Prohibition imposed due to a false pilot license scandal.
- The Pakistani authorities hope for a positive decision.
- PIA resumed its operations in Europe in January.
Karachi: A crucial meeting of the British Aviation Safety Committee is expected to take place on March 20 to examine the five -year ban at the Pakistani national airline and other carriers, according to officials of civil aviation Authority (CAA).
The Committee will assess the case of all Pakistani airlines – including Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) – and deliberately on the possibility of raising restrictions.
The ban was applied in July 2020 by the UK authorities and European aviation following the false pilot license scandal. However, the Pakistani authorities hope that the restrictions will be lifted after tomorrow’s examination.
In 2020, during the Government of Pakistan Tehreek-E-insaf (PTI), the Minister of the time, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, said the pilots exploited planes with false licenses.
It was his answer after the Pia Airbus A-320 plunged into a street in Karachi, killing nearly 100 people.
Following this, the debt PIA was forbidden to fly to the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The ban cost the company of losses of 40 billion rupees (144 million dollars) per year in income.
In January 2025, after an interruption of several years, the PIA operated its first direct flight from Islamabad in Paris, resuming its long -awaited thefts towards Europe.
Eswing UK Operations, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafez Khan, said that once erased by the DFT, London, Manchester and Birmingham would be the most sought after destinations.
The PIA holds 23% of the Pakistan interior aviation market, but its fleet of 34 plans cannot compete with the carriers of the Middle East who are 60%, due to a lack of direct flights, despite agreements with 87 countries and key landing slots.