UK removes Pakistan from Air Safety List, clears path for flight resumption
Pakistani airlines were barred from flying to the European Union, United Kingdom and the United States following the crash of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Airbus A320 in a residential area of Karachi that killed nearly 100 people in May 2020. The crash was attributed to human error by both the pilots and air traffic controllers and was followed by claims that a significant number of Pakistani pilots held dubious or fake licenses.
PIA resumed operations to Europe earlier this year after a four-and-a-half-year ban was lifted by EU regulators. The airline relaunched flights from Islamabad to Paris on January 10 and introduced direct flights from Lahore to Paris in June.
'I'm grateful to aviation experts in the UK and Pakistan for their collaborative work to drive improvements to meet international safety standards,' British High Commissioner Jane Marriott said in the statement. 'While it will take time for flights to resume, once the logistics are in place, I look forward to using a Pakistani carrier when visiting family and friends.'
The High Commission said the decision to remove Pakistan and its carriers from the UK Air Safety List followed years of engagement between the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and UK regulators.
The UK's Air Safety Committee, which oversees the safety list through an independent technical process, determined that Pakistan had made the necessary improvements, continued the statement.
With over 1.6 million people of Pakistani heritage living in the UK and thousands of British nationals residing in Pakistan, the decision is expected to ease family travel and boost trade.
The UK is Pakistan's third-largest trading partner, with a bilateral relationship valued at £4.7 billion.
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