Local airlines operating within Pakistan are likely to get banned in 188 countries for failing to meet the international standards of pilot licensing recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) – a UN specialized agency.
The twelfth meeting of the ICAO’s 179th session sanctioned a mechanism to address Significant Safety Concerns (SSCs) to its member states. It identified Pakistan and seven other member states as being non-compliant with the SSCs.
The international civil aviation body also issued a warning to the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) for failing to address the safety concerns.
The ICAO stated in its letter last week that the PCAA does not comply with the global standards pertaining to personnel licensing and that its licensing processing officials lack professional training. Consequently, the country’s aircraft and pilots may be banned from entering 188 countries.
Commenting on the development, a Pakistan Airlines Pilots Association (PALPA) spokesperson said that it might be disastrous for Pakistan’s aviation industry.
“PALPA had been raising this issue since June 2020, but unfortunately, it was neglected by the authorities concerned. We had forwarded several options to revamp the system following the international practices and also given a presentation,” the spokesperson clarified.
PALPA has requested Prime Minister Imran Khan to take notice of the issue and set up a special task force to urgently address it.
Meanwhile, Afsar Malik, an expert in airline economics and bilateral air services agreements, said that the ICAO cannot ban operations to/from Pakistan despite the non-compliance.
“The individual countries may or may not apply restrictions on Pakistani aircraft/pilots just as the European Union, MUK, and the US did but not the other countries,” he said.
Malik maintained that Pakistan must come out of this crisis and that it is doable if the government takes it seriously.
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is currently facing a six-month ban by the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States after the pilot licensing scam.
The scam caught the world’s attention when the Federal Minister for Aviation, Ghulam Sarwar Khan, revealed in August that 262 CAA-licensed pilots including 141 from PIA had fake credentials.
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