ISLAMABAD: A seven-member committee has been formed to figure out how much the country lost due to former aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Awan Khan’s statement (apropos 262 active Pak pilots’ fake licenses) given on the floor of the National Assembly during a Parliamentary session back in 2020.

It may be recalled that Ghulam Sarwar Khan had accused 262 Pakistani pilots of holding fake licenses or cheating in the exams. The newly formed committee will assess the financial losses incurred by the national exchequer due to the irresponsible statement by Khan in 2020. The committee comprising the Defense Minister, Law Minister, Finance Minister and their secretaries, CEO of PIA and the DG of CAA will be presenting its report within 4 weeks. Due to his statement 109 commercial and 153 transport airline pilots were grounded.

Licenses of 141 PIA pilots, nine Air Blue pilots, 10 Serene Airlines 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