European Union aviation authorities have lifted a four-year ban on Pakistan’s troubled national airline, which was at the center of a pilot license scandal, officials said Friday.
Pakistan International Airlines was barred from flying to the European Union in June 2020, a month after one of its planes crashed on a Karachi street, killing nearly 100 people.
The disaster was blamed on human error by pilots and air traffic control, and was followed by allegations that about a third of its pilots had fake or dubious licenses.
It is banned from operating in the United States.
“EASA has lifted the suspension of the third country operator authorization issued to Pakistan International Airlines,” the European Union Aviation Safety Agency said in a statement.
“This marks the end of a long process initiated in 2020, based on factual and verifiable evidence that the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA)’s ability to certify and oversee its air operators remained below acceptable levels. It has fallen.”
It added that EASA “has now re-established substantial confidence in the PCAA inspection capabilities”.
PIA, which employs 7,000 people, has long been accused of being bloated and poorly run — plagued by unpaid bills, a poor safety record and regulatory issues.
The Pakistani government has said it is committed to privatizing the debt-ridden airline and is struggling to find a buyer.
Last month, the deal fell through after a potential buyer reportedly offered a fraction of the asking price.
According to local media, PIA suffered a loss of $270 million in 2023. Its liabilities were approximately $3 billion, approximately five times the total value of its assets.
Last year, dozens of flights were canceled because it couldn’t buy fuel for its planes.
Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority chief Nadir Shafi Dar confirmed the ban was lifted.
Meanwhile a PIA spokesperson said the airline would “strictly follow EASA rules and guidelines”.
“This achievement has been achieved after four years of tireless efforts by the PIA management,” the spokesperson said.
PIA came into existence in 1955 when the government nationalized a loss-making commercial airline and grew rapidly until the 1990s.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
