Investigating ‘illegal’ licences of 236 pilots: Pakistan govt
Islamabad/UNI: The Pakistani government has said that the inquiry into the issuance of ‘illegal’ licences to about 236 pilots is currently in progress and that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) would complete the scrutiny of suspected pilots and verification of the credentials of other aviation staff in the coming days.
These 236 pilots are suspected to have been issued licences between 2012 and 2018 without completing the required criteria.
Addressing the press on Thursday, the Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Haider Zaidi, Information Minister Senator Shibli Faraz and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Barrister Shahzad Akbar claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government is committed to ensuring merit and transparency in all national institutions.
The officials went on to accuse the previous governments of destroying all state institutions, including the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
Dawn quoted them as saying that the national flag carrier had been ruined due to political interference by the previous governments.
Mr Zaidi expressed his hope that the inquiry would be completed in about four months after which the PIA would emerge as an airline that observes high safety standards as it would have rid itself of all irregular inductions.
On July 1, the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority withdrew the Pakistan International Airlines's (PIA) permit to operate in three of its airports, namely London Heathrow, Birmingham and Manchester airports.
The announcement by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority followed the European Union Air Safety Agency's (EASA) decision to suspend PIA's operations within the bloc for the next six months. These developments come after the grounding of 262 pilots whose licences were termed as “dubious” by Pakistan's Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan.
On June 30, the EASA had suspended PIA's authorisation to operate in the bloc for six months.
Image: UNI
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