KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has decided that it will not appeal against a six-month ban imposed on its flights to different destinations in Europe.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) banned PIA from flying to the bloc in June over safety concerns, days after the country grounded dozens of its pilots over allegedly dubious qualifications.
A letter issued to PIA from EASA said, “There are strong indications that a high number of Pakistani pilots’ licenses are invalid.”
It further said, “PIA persists in failing to demonstrate compliance with the applicable standards.”
Civil Aviation officials said that an appeal against the ban at this stage will not prove successful till the time investigations into the pilots’ scandal are completed.
In June, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had banned the national flag carrier from flying to European locations over safety concerns.
The EASA took the initiative days after PIA grounded several pilots over “dubious qualifications licenses” and in view of the PIA Airbus crash incident on May 22.
Earlier, Aviation Minister Chaudhry Sarwar told the parliament that 262 out of 860 pilot licenses issued by the Civil Aviation Authority were fraudulent. More than half were held by pilots employed at PIA, though the airline said that 36 of the pilots no longer worked for the airline.
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