EASA refuses to lift ban on PIA’s Europe flights

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KARACHI, Dec 27 (DNA): A final attempt from Pakistan International
Airlines (PIA) to get relief from the EASA over a ban on its flight
operations to Europe has met with failure.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PIA CEO Air Marshall Arshad
Malik has written a letter to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency
(EASA) for giving provisional permission to the national flag carrier to
resume its Europe operation.

However, the European authorities rejected the proposal in a letter
written to the PIA CEO, conveying that pre-conditions to lift the ban
are not yet met as an audit will be necessary before any approval from
the EASA.

The agency said that their experts reviewed all submitted material and
additional supporting arguments related to the corrective actions
implemented to improve the PIA’s Safety Management System.

It said that regarding the lack of confidence in certification and
oversight activities performed by the Pakistani Civil Aviation
Authority, which was the second aspect that led to the suspension of
your Third Country Operator Authorisation, the investigations performed
by the European Commission and by the ICAO have not yet been concluded.

The EASA said that all pre-conditions to lift the suspension are not met
and, as an audit will be necessary.

“The Agency decided not to revoke your Third Country Operator
Authorisation but to extend the suspension period by an additional
3-month period,” it said adding that their legal framework does not
provide the possibility to grant provisional or conditional TCO
authorizations. DNA

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