All PIA flights to Europe canceled for six months? What options for Pakistan now?

In another aftershock, after Federal Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan declared the licenses of Pakistani pilots questionable, the European Union's Air Safety Agency (EASA) suspended Pakistan Airlines' air operations permit for European countries for six months. After that, all PIA flights to Europe have been canceled.

According to a letter sent by the European Union's Air Safety Agency (AISA), meetings were held between PIA and AISA in June last year and again in September last year to discuss various technical issues related to PIA. The PIA assured them of speedy resolution on five different safety issues, but the PIA failed to do so.

Ayasa says that according to Level One, the safety management system has not been implemented.

The letter said that on June 24, Pakistan's Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan informed the Pakistani parliament that the licenses of 260 of Pakistan's 860 pilots were fake and that the pilots had fraudulently obtained them from Pakistani authorities.

Renowned analyst Syed Talat Hussain has said in his tweet that the country's dignity and honor is at stake, which continues to suffer immensely. At the same time, the impression is being given that everything is fine.

In this situation, based on this information, Ayasa is concerned that the licenses of Pakistani pilots are not usable and do not conform to international safety standards. This was inquired by Ayasa on June 26 from PIA. However, the explanation sent by PIA on June 28 is insufficient.

Ayasa says that according to the PIA, all the fake licensed pilots have been grounded. But that is not enough, and Ayasa still suspects that there may be more pilots with fake licenses.

Ayasa also referred to the accident in Karachi in his region and said that according to the preliminary investigation report, several errors have been found in Pakistan's safety management system.

Mazhar Abbas says it is time to fire the aviation minister, as in practice he has already disbanded the PIA.

Questioning Pakistan's aviation system, Ayasa has barred PIA from entering the European Union for six months and no Pakistani aircraft can fly within European borders.

The PIA can also appeal the decision within two months. However, PIA will have to pay a separate fee for this.

What does the PIA say?

According to PIA spokesman Abdullah Hafeez, the suspension will take effect at 12 midnight UTC time on July 1, 2020. All PIA flights to Europe have been temporarily canceled.

Abdullah Hafeez said that a meeting of top PIA officials has been convened on the issue and talks are underway to address the issue. He acknowledged that the European Union did not currently trust Pakistan's aviation system, which led to the drastic move.

He said that Ayasa has questioned the safety management system of Pakistan. But PIA has been operating for a long time and most countries in the world have no objection to its safety system. However, the EU is trying to defuse the objections.

"We have informed the European Union about the action to ground pilots in this regard and have stated that the licenses of all pilots working in PIA are now valid," he said. Hopefully, as a result of the steps taken by the government and the administration, this suspension will end soon.

Abdullah Hafeez said that at that time PIA was flying to five cities in Europe and in recent times flights here had been badly affected due to Corona. However, trying to resume flights to these cities, passengers who are affected can get their refunds.

Nafisa Shah, a senior leader and spokesperson of the Pakistan People's Party, said in her tweet that the wrong statement made by Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan in the National Assembly was a death knell for Pakistan's aviation sector. PIA can no longer enter European airspace. Similarly, PTI is destroying Pakistan. It would be better to get rid of this useless government as soon as possible.

Lower domestic fares in Pakistan

The number of PIA flights has dropped due to the corona virus on domestic and international flights, and the number of PIA flights has dropped from 110 to 10 to 15 a day, with The PIA is also facing difficulties due to the accident in Karachi and the subsequent pilot license scandal.

PIA has recently reduced its domestic fares to a minimum of Rs 12,000. In this regard, senior aviation journalist Tariq Abul Hassan says that this will be the minimum fare for only 15% of the passengers. As the number of passengers increases, the fare will increase as usual. This is just a marketing technique.