Europe bans Pakistan carriers
UK AIRPORTS ALSO HALT FLIGHTS AFTER PAKISTAN REVIEW FOUND A THIRD OF PILOTS HAD FAKE LICENCES
REGULATORS have barred Pakistan International Airlines from the European Union for six months after the state-run carrier grounded nearly a third of its pilots for holding fake or dubious licences, officials said last Tuesday (30).
The EU Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) told PIA “it is still not sure” if all the remaining pilots are properly qualified, and “they have lost their confidence” in the airline, PIA spokesman Abdullah Khan said.
The suspension is the latest fallout for PIA after Pakistan’s aviation minister told parliament last week that a government review had found 262 of the country’s 860 active pilots hold fake licenses or cheated on exams.
More than half of them were from PIA, and the airline said it would immediately ground 141 of its 434 pilots.
The EASA said it had suspended PIA and a smaller private Pakistan airline – Vision Air International – “in view of the recent investigation reported in the Pakistani Parliament which revealed that a large share of pilot licenses issued in Pakistan are invalid”.
Vision Air International did not immediately respond to a request for comment. PIA is filing an appeal, Khan said.
The airline has only flown limited international flights for months as a result of the coronavirus. A resumption of domestic operations last month was followed by a crash blamed on pilot error that killed 98 people.
PIA had recently resumed bookings for five European capital cities, including Paris, Milan and Barcelona. Flights to Britain, which is no longer in the EU, have also been suspended, Khan said.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority
confirmed it was withdrawing PIA’s permit to operate from three of its airports, as required under law.
“PIA flights from Birmingham, London Heathrow and Manchester airports are suspended with immediate effect,” a spokesman for the UK authority said.
The three were major flying destinations for the airline. The EASA said it suspended PIA “due to concerns about the capability of competent authorities to ensure that Pakistani air operators are in compliance with applicable international standards at all times”.
Chaudhry Manzoor Ahmed, a senior figure in the opposition Pakistan People’s Party, said PIA’s woes had “put the country’s reputation at stake”.
“The decision of the European Union is the result of successive follies of incompetent rulers,” Ahmed stated.
Prime minister Imran Khan told parliament he would reform PIA and other government institutions.
“I want to tell my nation: We have no other option, reforms are inevitable,” he said last Tuesday.
Aviation minister
Ghulam
Sarwar
“It contains names of highly educated and qualified pilots who have passed all the tests,”
“We want a fair and impartial resolution to this matter,” said Chaudhry Salman, PALPA’s president.
Pakistan aviation ministry official Abdul Sattar Khokhar said it did not have full details of the discrepancies and “the issue is being sorted out in consultation with airlines and civil aviation authorities.”
PIA, which is helmed by a serving air force officer, currently has a fleet of 31 planes and a payroll of about 14,500 workers. The high staff-to-plane ratio has seen long-standing accusations the government and the military use the airline to dish out jobs to cronies and retired military officers.
Even before the coronavirus, PIA was in a financial mess, and the EU suspension will only make things worse. The airline racked up about $330 million (£263m) in losses last year, compared to about $400 million in 2018. (Agencies)