PIA awaits restoration of EASA approval as Pakistani regulator shows safety progress

Pakistan International Airlines is still waiting for European regulators to restore its third-country operator approval, although the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority is progressing with safety-oversight improvements. While the European Commission imposed partial blacklist restrictions on PIA in early 2007, these were rescinded at the end of the same year. But PIA had its third-country operator approval withdrawn by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in mid-2020, over concerns about its safety-management system. According to EASA documentation dated 2 June, PIA’s third-country operator approval has yet to be restored. EASA took the action after a fatal accident in Karachi involving a PIA Airbus A320 and the revelation, around the same time, that a large number of pilot licences issued by Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority had been fraudulently obtained. Representatives of the Commission and EASA conducted an on-site assessment at the end of November last year, which primarily covered the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority but also took in sample assessments of Pakistani carriers Airblue and Fly Jinnah. “It was found that [the PCAA] has an established policy to adhere to international safety standards, and is staffed by technically skilled and professional persons,” says the Commission in a 30 May blacklist revision. But it says “common shortcomings”, such as lack of internal verifications, were noticed “throughout the organisation”.<br/>