ISLAMABAD: A Boeing 777, livery of which shows Pakistani flag, harboring 330 voyagers and 14 crew members, took off from IIAP at 12.10 pm on Friday (10th Jan 2025) to Paris after a 54-month hiatus.
Back in 2020 the then aviation minister Sarwar Awan stated from the National Assembly floor, that licenses of Pakistani pilots were fake. As a result 109 commercial and 153 transport airline pilots were grounded.
Licenses of 141 PIA pilots, nine Air Blue pilots, 10 Serene Airline pilots, and 17 Shaheen Airlines pilots were scrutinized. Then, an over-smart PIA pilot crashed the aircraft over houses in Malir killing a hundred people.
As a result EASA banned the national carrier from routes in Europe and UK, costing PIA a loss of Rs. 40 billion per year. EASA has also issued Third Country Operator authorisation to Airblue.
Following the lifting of ban imposed on PIA by EC and EASA, the national-flag carrier commenced operations to Europe.
Newspakistan.tv
M. M. Alam is a Pakistan-based working journalist since 1981. Karachi University faculty gold medalist Alam began his career forty-five years ago by writing for Dawn, Pakistan’s highest circulating English daily. He has worked for region’s leading publications, global aviation periodicals including Rotors (of USA) and vetted New York Times as permanent employee of daily Express Tribune. Alam regularly covers international aviation and defense-related events including Salon Du Bourget (France), Farnborough (United Kingdom), Dubai (UAE). Alam has reported thousands of events and interviewed hundreds of people in Pakistan, UAE, EU, UK and USA. Being Francophone Alam also coordinates with a number of French publications.
