UK flights restoration: British DfT schedules visit to Pakistan

KARACHI (NNI): Progress was made on the restoration of direct flights between Pakistan and the United Kingdom (UK) as the British Department for Transport (DfT) scheduled a visit.

A British Department for Transport (DfT) delegation will visit Pakistan from August 1 to August 4 for conducting inspection of flight arrangements and security.

The DfT delegation will be led by the head of the agency’s aviation security that will inspect the passengers’ check in, security search, immigration and boarding at the airports, sources told.

Moreover, a delegation of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will visit Pakistan in September this year to review a ban on Pakistan International Airline (PIA) flights to Europe. EASA is responsible for ensuring safety and environmental protection in air transport in Europe.

The EASA delegation will undertake a physical audit of PIA as well as the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Successfully clearing the audit could lead to a reversal of the ban on PIA flights to European Union, say sources.

After three-year ban, the national carrier is expected to be allowed to resume direct flights to European countries after getting clearance from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Earlier, Aviation Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said that Pakistan International Airlines is likely to resume flights to Britain in the next three months.

Rafique told parliament that new legislation this week has removed the final hurdle for Pakistan’s national carrier to fly to the United Kingdom.

He gave no details about the legislation or why it was required to resume the flights. He said the resumption of services to Britain did not include other European destinations.

PIA flights to Europe and the UK were suspended after the European Union’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) revoked the national carrier’s authorisation to fly to the bloc in 2020 following a fake pilot licence scandal in the South Asian nation.