A spokesperson for Pakistan’s national airline (PIA) says that “the team from Britain did not raise any new concerns or demands regarding standards and safety during the audit of PIA and the Civil Aviation Authority.” He further says that “in light of the British team’s visit there is a strong possibility that PIA flights to the UK will be restored by the end of next month.
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Regarding the visit of the British team, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez told Urdu News on Friday that ‘the team of the British Department of Transport and Aviation has completed its audit and has left for home.’
He said that ‘in mid-March, the British Air Safety Board will issue its decision regarding the restoration of PIA flights in the light of its team’s audit.’
‘During the one-week audit by the British team, all the relevant institutions have fully cooperated with it and have ensured that the national airline is operating its flight operations in accordance with international standards.’ Abdullah Hafeez said that ‘we have significantly improved our air safety standards regarding the restoration of PIA flights to Europe and therefore no deficiencies were identified during the audit by the British team.’
On the other hand, a two-member PIA delegation The delegation arrived in the UK on Friday to review the resumption of flights. Led by the Chief Operating Officer of Khyber East, the delegation will review the arrangements for its flight operations in London, Manchester and Birmingham.
The airline delegation’s visit is part of PIA’s efforts to resume direct flights to the UK, which were suspended in 2020.
British Department of Transport and Aviation team visits Pakistan
The British team that came to Pakistan to resume PIA flights to the UK has completed its audit and left for Pakistan.
In this regard, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez said, “The British team has completed the audit of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and PIA and now we are waiting for the final decision of the UK Air Safety Board.”
Earlier, the British team had arrived in Karachi on January 27 and there it had started a detailed audit of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority.
During the visit, the foreign team conducted a complete audit of licensing, flight standards and other departments of the CAA by the first week of February.
On this occasion, PIA officials told the British team in their briefing that ‘PIA intends to use its Boeing 777 aircraft for UK flight operations.
According to officials, ‘the national airline has already finalized its plan for UK flight operations and has also issued a tender for in-flight catering services.’
Speaking to Urdu News, senior civil aviation officials expressed hope that ‘as a result of the successful audit by the British team the ban on PIA and other Pakistani airlines for the UK can be
lifted .
After the resumption of flights to Europe, the PIA flight reached Paris on January 10 (File photo: AFP)
He further said that ‘Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority had completed all necessary preparations to ensure compliance with international standards even before the visit of the British team, which is why no issues were
raised during the audit.
Resumption of flights to Europe
PIA flight reached the Paris after a gap of four year on 10 January.
PIA flight PK 749 reached Paris, France, after an eight-hour journey from Islamabad with 323 passengers on board.
Then Civil Aviation Authority and PIA had also started working on the resumption of flights to the UK held with the UK aviation authorities in this regard.
