ISLAMABAD: The ban on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights will not be lifted by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) until Pakistan completes an inquiry from its end into its pilots’ fake licences which could take months, PIA said on Sunday.
The news comes a day after Pakistan’s aviation minister told reporters that the ban on PIA flying to European destinations would ‘soon’ be lifted.
“The ban can't be lifted till the civil aviation authority completes the inquiry, and it's up to Pakistan now whether they complete it in three months or six months,” Abdullah Hafeez Khan, PIA spokesperson, told Arab News on Sunday.
“We had requested the EASA to provisionally allow operations of the PIA, but they have communicated us through a letter that the ban can't be lifted till Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan concludes the ongoing inquiry into fake licenses of the pilots,” he said.
In July, EASA suspended the authorisation for PIA to operate flights in the EU member states for six months due to safety concerns after the aviation minister told parliament that 262 Pakistani pilots possessed dubious licences, while making public the preliminary report of the May 22 PIA air crash.
But six months on, and after PIA requested to restart provisional operations, EASA said the ban on PIA flying to European destinations could take months to be lifted, depending on when Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) completed its inquiry.