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EU Bars Pakistan's National Airline for 6 Months

VOA News

   Pakistan International Airlines will not be allowed to fly intomost
   ofEurope for the next six months, the European Union Aviation Safety
   Agency (EASA)saidon Tuesday,following revelations that nearly a third
   of Pakistani pilots had cheated on their pilot exams.

   In a letter banning Pakistan's national airline, the EASA cited
   concerns about "the validity of the Pakistani pilot licenses and that
   Pakistan, as the State of operator, is currently not capable to certify
   and oversee its operators and aircraft in accordance with applicable
   international standards."

   Pakistan's aviation minister, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, reported last week
   that 260 of 860pilots had improperly gotten their licenses.

   The scandal came to light during investigations into the May 22 Airbus
   A320 plane crash at Pakistan's southern port of Karachi,inwhich 97
   peoplewere killed. Further inquiries eventually led investigators to
   find that the Civil Aviation Authority had given out licenses to pilots
   who had cheated on their exams.

   The government has since fired five officials of the regulatory agency,
   and PIA subsequently grounded 150 of its pilots for cheating.

   PIA, which had not been flying to Europe due to the coronavirus
   pandemic, had been hoping to resume flights to Oslo, Copenhagen, Paris,
   Barcelona and Milan within the next two months.

   "We have really hit rock bottom,I am so sad to say," PIA spokesman
   Abdullah Hafeez said.

   "The saddest part for PIA is that we had alerted the regulatory agency
   and the government," Hafeezsaid,regarding the cheating scandal,in an
   interview withthe Associated Press.

     Dubious Pilots Licenses do not pertain to PIA alone. Let it be on
     record, these licenses were issued by the competent authority and
     are valid as per their records. It's the process & discrepancies
     through which they were obtained, triggered the inquiry by GoP &
     action.
     -- PIA (@Official_PIA) [1]June 25, 2020

References

   1. https://twitter.com/Official_PIA/status/1276253116510461958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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