Security concerns: More delays in PIA flights to Europe and United Kingdom (UK).
The resumption of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights to Europe and the United Kingdom has once again come to a standstill due to a security advisory issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.
For inspection of quality of PIA by host countries in this regard.
The departure of the delegations to Pakistan has been postponed.
Pakistan expected that after the visit of European and UK civil aviation officials to Pakistan and during the quality audit of PIA, the way of flights would be paved and in the light of these expectations, former finance minister Ishaq Dar said in June this year. I had announced that PIA flights to UK would start in September.
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However: Pakistan’s top officials have confirmed on Tuesday that the arrival of these delegations has been delayed due to security reasons, and the resumption of these flights is unlikely before November.
A senior official of the federal government of Pakistan has told Urdu News that civil aviation experts from the European Union and Great Britain were scheduled to visit in September.
However: these trips will be postponed following a travel advisory issued by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in July.
He also said that First the European Union issued an advisory that airlines going to Pakistan should not fly at low levels due to security concerns and after that the British authorities also issued similar instructions and postponed the visit of their delegation. done.’
Now the British authorities say that first the European Union will clarify the situation and only after that the UK will take any steps in this regard.
According to officials, the British delegation is likely to come in October, while the EU experts will come in November. However, the dates of their visits could not be fixed yet and the reason for this is this travel advisory.
The European Union Air Safety Agency had banned PIA flights in 2020
In this regard, an official of the Ministry of Aviation of Pakistan, when contacted, also confirmed that the talks for the resumption of flights from Europe and the United Kingdom are stalled due to the travel advisory.
However, he said that the initial work in this regard has been completed and it is expected that the flights will resume immediately after the visit.
The UK has appreciated PIA arrangements in online discussions. Earlier his delegation that came to Pakistan also expressed satisfaction with our standards and said that we are ahead of European countries in many respects. However due to this travel advisory, their inspection delegation is not coming to Pakistan due to which the affairs are at a standstill.
Saifullah, the spokesperson of Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority, said about the current situation that British Ambassador to Pakistan Jane Marriott, while handing over some equipment to the Pakistani authorities for the security of airports, expressed the opinion that between the two countries. Steps will be taken for early restoration of projects.
He said that the head of the Civil Aviation Authority is also hopeful that the issue will be resolved soon and flights will start immediately after the arrival of the European Union and British officials in November.
PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez told the inquiry that they have completed their preparations and whenever foreign experts come for audit they will give them a detailed briefing on all matters.
However he also confirmed that due to the delay in the arrival of these experts. The matter is getting stuck.
It should be noted that the European Union Air Safety Agency had banned PIA flights in 2020 when the then Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar had said in a speech in the National Assembly that most of its pilots did not meet the standards. And those wrong ways.
