Britain on Wednesday lifted a five -year ban on Pakistani Airlines, allowing carrier to resume flights in the UK after significant improvement in carrier aviation safety standards.
The ban was affected in 2020, a few days after a revelation that about one-third of the country’s pilots obtained their license fraudulently.
Why is this happening now?
The announcement was made after the recognition of Pakistan’s efforts to influence air security.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency lifted its five -year ban earlier this year, resumption of a direct flight for Europe.
The then Pakistani Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan revealed about fake documentation.
The scam came to light after the International Airlines (PIA) accident of Pakistan after killing 97 people in May 2020, when an aircraft crashed on a road in Karachi city, which is the South -West Sindh province and the country’s economic center.
The British High Commission in Islamabad said that the verdict followed the “comprehensive engagement” between the UK Air Safety Committee and the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority. It said that Decisions on D-listing states and air carriers were “made through an independent aviation safety process.”
British High Commissioner Jane Marriott said, “I am grateful to aviation experts in both UK and Pakistan for my collaborative work to meet international security standards.”
“While it will take time to resume the flight, once there is logistics, I am eager to use a Pakistani carrier while visiting family and friends.”
The lift of the ban is generally applied to Pakistan’s airlines, but while many private carriers mainly serve domestic and regional routes-especially historic Ellie for the Central East-Piyas that is the only airline to fly long for the UK and the European Union.
What does a ban for Piya mean?
Piya, once looked at the UK routes – including London, Manchester and Birmingham – as its most profitable, suspension estimates that it costs about 40 billion rupees ($ 144 million) in annual revenue.
The carrier stated that it was now finalizing the three weekly Islamabad – Macchest Flight, a plan to resume flights “in the shortest time”.
Such an announcement comes when Pakistan carried forward the national carrier with private schemes, which employs 7,000 people and has long been accused of running bees bloated and poorly run.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, Pakistani Defense Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif said that by restoring Britain and European routes, he exposed the price of the airline before privatization and indicated hopes to revive the flying flights to New York.
PIA was formed in 1955 when the government nationalized a struggling private airline, and enjoyed rapid development until the 1990s.
Edited by: saim dusan inayatullah
