European Union retains ban on PIA flights

Islamabad: The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has retained ban on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight to the union.

The EASA, in its response to letter of PIA, said that it was pleased to hear that International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was able to remove the Significant Safety Concern (SSC) that was raised against Pakistan Personnel Licensing (PEL) following the on-site Universal Safety Oversight Audit Program (USOAP) activities performed in Pakistan from 29 November to 10 December 2021.

“The closure of this SSC was an important step towards a potential lifting of the suspension of PIA Third Country Operators (TCO) Authorization (TCOA).”

However, the agency said that the removal of SSC by ICAO does not affect European ban on the flights as EASA still needs to evaluate performance of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The decision about lifting the ban will be taken after the evaluation report of the agency.