Pakistan hopes to restart the flights to US, UK and Europe in February or March
Pakistan would soon resume flights to important international destinations including Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom as the UN aviation agency has withdrawn its reservations, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan told media.
Terming this announcement ‘good news for the new year’, he said after getting the green signal from the ICAO, the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is hoping to restart the flights sometime in February or March.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had restricted Pakistan International Airlines from operating flights to EU member states in July 2020 by suspending PIA’s authorization. The flag carrier hasn’t taken a direct flight to EU states since then.
The authorization was suspended in the wake of the May 22, 2020 plane crash in Karachi and the subsequent derogatory statement by Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar, who had claimed that around 40% of the pilots in Pakistani had ‘dubious licenses’.
Calling the ICAO’s decision “a major achievement”, Sarwar said he had invited the ICAO audit team to Pakistan late last year to show them that all of the safety concerns have been addressed and stern actions have been taken to improve pilots’ training and licensing processes.
The ICAO audit team visited Pakistan from Nov 29 to Dec 10, 2021, to inspect CAA’s systems including flying clubs. The team also visited airports, examined domestic flight departures, and reviewed the safety measures in practice. All four registered airlines in Pakistan, including PIA, AirBlue, Air Sial, and Serene Air, were internationally certified during the ICAO audit.
“To further improve pilot licensing, Pakistan has signed a two-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the British Civil Aviation Authority for pilots’ CPL and ATPL licensing. Under the MoU, UK’s licensing cell will administer the exams to candidates and will also check and mark their exam papers,” the minister said.
The aviation minister said that following clearance from ICAO, Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) had reached out to the UK CAA, EASA and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the US to convey that the safety concerns raised by ICAO had been addressed. They had been asked to lift the restrictions placed on Pakistan-registered aircraft from operate in EU, UK and US territories
Giving details of the flight resumption, Ghulam Sarwar said that initially, PIA was start flights to three destinations in the UK — London, Birmingham and Manchester — and two destinations in mainland Europe including Paris and Oslo. The aviation minister also hinted at resuming flight operations for Canada.
Mr. Ghulam Sarwar also told the press conference that the ministry is planning to soon introduce direct flights to Central Asian destinations, including Bishkek, Baku and Tashkent.