Airlines must go through rigorous procedure to have restrictions lifted, says spokesperson
Foreign Desk/DNA
LONDON: The UK Department for Transport confirmed on Tuesday that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would remain on the air safety list.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the department said that the UK Civil Aviation Authority was in contact with Pakistani authorities regarding the issue.
“Airlines must go through a rigorous procedure to have restrictions lifted,” the spokesperson added.
The UK Air Safety List is the published list of countries and airlines that are subject to an operating ban on safety grounds and so cannot fly planes to, from or within the UK.
All air carriers certified by the authorities with responsibility for regulatory oversight of Pakistan are banned from operating commercial air services to, from, and within the United Kingdom, stated an official UK government website.
Last week, it was reported that the ban on the national carrier on flying to Britain is likely to be lifted soon as the British Air Safety Committee concluded an important meeting on the matter.
The ban was enforced in July 2020 by the UK and European aviation authorities following the fake pilot licence scandal. However, Pakistani authorities remained hopeful that the restrictions would be lifted following tomorrow’s review.
In 2020, during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) government, then-aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan claimed that pilots were operating planes with fake licences.
This was his response after PIA’s Airbus A-320s plunged into a Karachi street, killing nearly 100 people.
Following this, the debt-ridden PIA was banned from flying to the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The ban cost the loss-making airline Rs40 billion ($144 million) annually in revenue.
In January 2025, after a years-long hiatus, the PIA operated its first direct flight from Islamabad to Paris, resuming its long-awaited flights to Europe.
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