Pakistan’s state-run airline to resume flights to Europe in January after EU agency lifted ban

By MUNIR AHMED The Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan’s state-run airline is preparing to resume direct flights to European countries early next month, officials said Thursday, days after the European Union’s aviation safety agency lifted a ban on Pakistan International Airlines flying to Europe over compliance with its safety standards.

The ban on PIA by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency had been in place since 2020 after 97 people died when a PIA plane crashed in Karachi, the capital of southern Sindh province.

The ban was causing a loss of nearly $150 million a year in revenue to PIA, officials say.

Airline spokesman Abdullah Hafeez said after more than four years the first direct flight from the capital Islamabad to Paris will resume in early January.

He told The Associated Press that EASA has expressed “complete satisfaction over the safety standards of PIA” and that arrangements are underway to resume PIA’s flights to other cities in the European countries.

The EU agency had said it was “concerned about the validity of the Pakistani pilot licenses” when it imposed the ban in 2020. It said it was concerned about Pakistan’s capability in certifying and overseeing its operators and aircraft in accordance with applicable international standards.

The Airbus A320 plane carrying 91 passengers and eight crew members from Lahore crashed in a residential area in May 22, 2020 while trying to land at Karachi airport. There were only two survivors.

Pakistan’s then aviation minister said during investigations that nearly a third of Pakistani pilots had cheated on their pilot’s exams. PIA at the time grounded 150 pilots.

A government probe later concluded that the crash was caused by a pilot’s error.

Travel agents on Thursday said customers were making calls to inquire about the new flights.

Hafeez, the PIA spokesman, said the airline will soon announce the schedule of flights to other destinations in Europe.

“If you have your breakfast in Pakistan, you will be having your lunch in Paris,” he said.