PIA planes under threat in EU
LAHORE: The Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan will fight a threatened ban on the Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) fleet in the European Union.
The EU, citing safety concerns, is set to ban most of PIA’s Boeing and Airbus fleet from flying to the 27 country EU bloc from March 8. Only PIA’s Boeing 777s will escape the proposed ban.
Reports from Europe suggest a committee of experts had decided to block all but seven planes of the airline’s roughly 40 aircraft fleet from flying to Europe for failing to meet international safety standards.
The airline has flight connections to the UK, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands.
Last year the Commission banned nearly 100 airlines from operating in the bloc, targeting mostly African carriers.
CAA deputy director General Vice Marshal Muhammad Safdar Khan told the local Daily Times in Lahore that the CAA was satisfied with the PIA fleet.
He said the fleet’s operations in the bloc would continue after March 8, but certain quarters were trying to exploit the situation.
He conceded that the PIA fleet had some “small operational or technical faults”, but said the CAA knew about these problems, and the situation was being improved.
“The CAA has occasionally stopped some aircraft from flying, but that happens only for two to three days because of technical problems.”
The CAA deputy director general said EU countries had been told they should first consult the CAA on such issues.
Ian Jarrett
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