Progress seen in resumption of PIA flights in UK: sources

• Five-member CAA delegation to meetEuropean Commission, IASA.
• European authorities to conduct technical meeting with delegation.
• Commission, IASA will visit Pakistan in 2023 to review measures.

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) will be resuming its flights in the United Kingdom after a two-year ban, sources told Geo News on Monday.

A five-member delegation of the Civil Aviation Authority has left for Brussels to meet officials of theEuropean Commission and International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) onOctober 25, said the sources.

The sources further said that the European authorities had summoned CAA to conduct a technical meeting. The delegation will brief the authorities on licensing, access and registration.

TheEuropean Commission and IASA will visit Pakistan in 2023 to review the measures being taken by the airline. The operations will be resumed if the commission and IASA are satisfied.

The visit to Pakistan is a condition set for the PIA to resume their flights in European countries.

PIA has lost Rs150 billion due to a ban in European countries since July 2020.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority suspended PIA flight operations over concerns that Pakistan is "not capable to certify and oversee its airline operators".

The decision came after the grounding of 262 Pakistani pilots whose licences former aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan termed “dubious”.