According to sources, the European Commission is still working with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) to verify the pilot licensing certification process and SMS oversight capabilities, the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) has not yet given Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) the go-ahead for its flight operations.
According to officially available records, PIA has complied with all EASA requirements, and its final solution, which it provided in December 2020, was approved by the agency as adequate for resolving the issue with organizational SMS.
However, EASA has urged that consideration of the reinstatement of TCO authorization only take place if the PCAA’s certification and monitoring skills have earned back public trust.
Regarding this, PCAA passed a thorough USOAP audit carried out by ICAO in November–December 2021.
Since then, PCAA has been following up with the European Commission on this matter, which is anticipated to be resolved quickly.
The schedule for conducting a compliance audit of PIA to confirm compliance with Part-TCO requirements will be shared by EASA after the European Commission’s faith in PCAA’s certification and oversight capabilities have been restored.
The documents also stated that PIA continued to assist the customers through a charter operation to the UK and Paris in order to overcome the challenges caused by the suspension of flights to Europe and the UK as well as to help abroad Pakistanis.
Following the recent signing of a code-share agreement with Turkish Airlines, PIA will begin operating flights to Istanbul from Islamabad with four weekly flights and two weekly flights.
PIA will run flights up to Istanbul, where passengers will be transferred to flights to the UK, USA, and Europe (29 destinations).
To read our blog on “PIA expands its fleet with a new Airbus plane,” click here.
