Pakistani Airlines may be banned in 188 countries
- 3 years ago
Pakistan-based airlines may be banned in 188 countries as they have failed to meet international standards on pilot licensing and other issues as required by the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
The national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has already been banned in the United Kingdom and European Union due to pilot licensing issues, The Economic Times reported.
Issues with pilot licensing were made public by the country’s Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan in August after he revealed that 262 pilots held fake credentials. The number includes 141 pilots from PIA, the report noted.
In a letter to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) on November 3, the ICAO stated that the regulator had failed to meet international standards regarding personnel licensing and training for pilots and conveyed “serious warning” regarding safety issues notifying of likely disbarment for the country’s airlines from flying to 188 countries, the report added.
The warning was issued as per the ICAO’s Significant Safety Concerns (SSC) mechanism.
"This will have serious consequences and could be a disaster for Pakistan's aviation industry. (We) had raised this issue in June but it was neglected by the authorities concerned,” a spokesperson for the Pakistan Airlines Pilots Association (Palpa) told the paper.
The spokesperson added that the association has forwarded “several options to revamp the system” and has asked PM Imran Khan to intervene with a special task force to tackle the matter.
Source: Source
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