EASA suspends PIA flights to Europe for six months

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has suspended Pakistan International Airline’s air operations permit for a period of six months, the national carrier’s spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan said on Tuesday. The suspension will take effect on July 1, at 12 noon UTC time, he said.

Therefore, all PIA flights to Europe have been temporarily cancelled. “Those who have a PIA booking can move the date forward or get a refund,” the spokesperson said.

The EASA told PIA “it is still not sure” if all the remaining pilots are properly qualified, “and thus they have lost their confidence” in the airline, the spokesperson told AFP.

“PIA is in constant contact with the agency,” he said, adding: “We are taking steps to address their concerns.”

“It is hoped that the suspension will end soon due to the [remedial] steps taken by the government and the administration,” the spokesperson said. ‘Pakistan not capable to certify and oversee its airline operators’

In EASA’s notification to the Civil Aviation Agency, the safety agency has observed that PIA’s authorisation to operate in Europe was issued on May 17, 2016.

Since then, it has been a matter of routine to “assess the continued compliance” by PIA with the agency’s requirements.

It said that two technical consultation meetings were held at the EASA’s premises in Cologne on June 13, 2019 and September 3, 2019, following which six findings were raised.

“For all findings, [PIA] proposed corrective action plans (CAPs), which were accepted by EASA. Following the review of the evidence of implementation of the agreed CAPs, five findings were closed.

“For the remaining finding, which is related to Safety Management, [PIA] failed to fully implement the agreed CAP despite an extension of the CAP implementation period,” reads the letter.