Way paved for lifting of EU ban on PIA flights

The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has expressed its satisfaction over safety measures adopted Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority at country’s leading airports, paving the way for the European Union (EU) to lift its ban on PIA flights, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.

In its audit, the ICAO removed the Significant Safety Concern (SSC) from the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA).

Showing satisfaction, the ICAO removed SSC giving 72.77 ranking in its recent audit of PCAA.

A ICAO spokesperson said that the Organisation had conducted the audit in December last year.

An ICAO audit team had visited Pakistan to undertake a safety audit of the aviation authority completing the process on December 10; however, its final report has now been released.

Pertinent to note that the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had suspended PIA from operating flights to European Union (EU) member countries for six months in July 2020 due to safety concerns.

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However, it is now expected the ban would be lifted soon, as the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) validation committee has cleared a safety audit report after which the Significant Safety Concerns (SSC) has also been eased out.

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Reporter Usman Javed