European Union Still Hasn’t Allowed PIA to Resume Flights

The European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) has not yet cleared Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for its flight operation as the European Commission is still engaged with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) for verification of pilot licensing certification process and SMS oversight capabilities, sources informed ProPakistani.

Official documents available with ProPakistani revealed that PIA has met all conditions of EASA and over final response submitted in December 2020 was accepted by EASA, as assessed as satisfactory for closure of finding related to organizational SMS.

However, for reinstatement of TCO authorization, EASA has demanded that the same shall be considered after the restoration of confidence in the certification and oversight capabilities of PCAA. In this regard, PCAA has cleared a full-scale USOAP audit conducted by ICAO in November- December 2021. Since then PCAA is following up on this issue with European Commission which is expected to be resolved soon.

After the restoration of the European Commission’s confidence in the certification and oversight capabilities of PCAA, EASA will share the schedule for conducting a compliance audit of PIA to verify compliance with Part-TCO regulations.

The documents further noted that to overcome the difficulties due to the suspension of flights to Europe and the UK as well as to facilitate overseas Pakistani, PIA continued to facilitate the customers through a charter operation to the UK and Paris.

PIA has recently entered into a code-share agreement with Turkish Airlines and will start PIA flights operation to Istanbul from Islamabad with 04 weekly flights and 02 weekly flights from Lahore. PIA will operate up to Istanbul and transfer passengers for onward destinations in the UK, USA, and Europe (29 destinations).

Since the year 2009, PIA remained compliant with EASA regulations and operated flights to/from EU states safely till 30th June 2020. In between, EASA undertook regular two yearly safety audits in 2015, 2017, and 2019. Various observations that surfaced during these audits, were amicably addressed as per the defined timeline.

Two Pakistani airlines namely PIA and Vision Air have EASA-TCO (third Country Operator) authorization. PIA is maintaining EASA-TCO authorization since 2016 while Vision Air obtained this authorization in 2020.

Flight operations of both airlines to EU member states were suspended from 1st July 2020 primarily because of irregularities in the pilot-licensing process. However, while suspending PIA authorization, EASA has also quoted some SMS compliance issues pending since the last audit of 2019.

Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) is in contact with the American FAA, and when the issues of technical assessment are settled between both countries, air traffic would start. ARTCC controls air traffic within American airspace and has nothing to do with granting permission to PIA or any other airline from Pakistan, as this is the domain of the American FAA.

Consequent to suspension effective since 1st July 2020, PIA has embarked upon a swift recovery plan. The steps include but are not limited to the following actions:

  1. On 02nd December 2020, EASA accepted all deliverables submitted by PIACL for closure of Level-1 finding related to Organizational SMS but linked the reinstatement of Third Country Operator (TCO) Authorization with safety concerns on licenses issued by PCAA.
  2. On 31st March 2021, EASA once again accepted and appreciated the steps taken by PLACE regarding organizational SMS, but extended the suspension for an indefinite period amidst Significant Safety Concerns (SSC) raised by ICAO regarding certification and oversight capabilities.

Pakistani Aviation Regulator, i.e. PCAA. ICAO USOAP audit of PCAA was conducted from 29th November 2021 to 10th December 2021 during which PIACL facilities were also visited by the audit team for verification of compliance with applicable ICAO SARPs & PCAA regulations on Flight Operations, Safety, and Air Worthiness Management areas, hence PIA has been cleared by IOSA with 97% satisfaction ratio.

ICAO vide letter Ref: AN 19/42.71, dated: 04th January 2022 informed that the actions taken by Pakistan (Regulatory & Industry) were adequate enough and the raised SSC stands resolved.

PIACL updated the ICAO letter on the EASA portal and also informed EASA vide letter of 07 January 2022 regarding the resolution of ICAO SSC and requested for the uplifting of suspension.

EASA, on 20th January 2022 has linked the lifting of the suspension of PIA operations to Europe with the following:

  • Evaluation of the USOAP audit report from the standpoint of the robustness of certification and oversight capacity of PCAA is expected shortly.
  • In succession, EASA will plan an audit of PIA in coordination with European Safety Commission in depending on the security and COVID-19 Pandemic conditions.

Meanwhile, the UK Department for Transport (UK DFT) has linked the lifting of the suspension of PIA Operations to the UK with the following;

  • The successful conduct of the USOAP audit with positive outcomes specific to Personal Licensing, Airworthiness, and Flight Ops.
  • Effective implementation of the Aviation Act 2021 by PCAA.
  • PCAA and PIACL are actively pursuing with EC (European Commission and UK DFT).



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