EASA bans PIA from European airspace for six months

The European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) on Tuesday suspended the third-country operator (TCO) authorisation for the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for six months, the airline’s spokesman said on Tuesday.

The move comes after the grounding of 262 Pakistani pilots amid government’s claims regarding “dubious” licenses.

“EASA has temporarily suspended PIA’s authorisation to operate to the EU member states for a period of 6 months effective July 1, 2020, with the right to appeal against this decision,” a PIA statement said.

It added that PIA would discontinue all its flights to Europe temporarily.

EASA has suspended PIA's permission to operate to EU member states for 6 months w.e.f July 1, 2020: 0000Hrs UTC. PIA is in touch with EASA to allay their concerns and hopes that the suspension will be revoked with our CBMs soon.

— PIA (@Official_PIA) June 30, 2020

All passengers booked on its flights to European destinations will have the option to either extend their bookings to a later date or get a full refund.

“PIA is in contact with EASA to allay their concerns and to take necessary corrective measures along with filing the appeal against the decision,” the press release said.

The PIA “sincerely hopes that with reparative and swift actions taken by the Government of Pakistan and PIA management, earliest possible lifting of this suspension can be expected”, it added.

Dubious Pilots Licenses do not pertain to PIA alone. Let it be on record, these licenses were issued by the competent authority and are valid as per their records. It's the process & discrepancies through which they were obtained, triggered the inquiry by GoP & action.

— PIA (@Official_PIA) June 25, 2020

Very sad & unfortunate day. UK Civil Aviation Authority follows EU and suspends PIA flights from/to Birmingham, London Heathrow and Manchester with immediate effect. Incompetent #PTI Govt grounding Pakistan in every field!

— Ishaq Dar (@MIshaqDar50) June 30, 2020