Ban on Pakistani airlines’ flights to Europe lifted, announces Khawaja Asif

Minister for Defence and Aviation Khawaja Muhammad Asif  has announces that ban on Pakistani airlines’ flights to Europe has been ended by the European Commission and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA)

The minister on the social media platform ‘X’ said, “A Good news for aviation sector in Pakistan as ban on Pakistani airlines has ended.

He further said that PIA and Air Blue got third country operator’s permission, adding that the European Commission and the European Aviation Safety Agency lifted the ban on PIA flights to Europe.

He added that Third Country Operator authorisation was also issued to Airblue.

Khawaja Asif maintained that this achievement was possible due to the full attention of the Ministry of Aviation.

“Today is a historic day for Pakistan,” he said.

The Ministry of Aviation has worked to strengthen the Civil Aviation Authority and ensured safety oversight as per International Civil Aviation Organization standards, the defense minister said.

In 2020, after a PIA plane crash in Karachi killed nearly 100, followed by a fake pilot licence scandal, the EASA banned the airline from its most lucrative routes in Europe and Britain.

The ban cost the airline an annual revenue of nearly Rs40 billion. Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervaiz Malik informed National Assembly in June that PIA flights to Europe were expected to be restored soon as the European Commission Air Safety Commission had delisted Pakistan from its concern list on May 14, describing it as a “positive development”.

In March, Asif claimed that PIA flights to the UK would resume soon after clearance from EASA by mid-May. The minister’s remarks were based on conversations with “relevant quarters”.