UK to review ban on Pakistani airlines today

Ban was enforced in July 2020 by UK and European aviation authorities following fake pilot licence scandal

By News Desk
March 20, 2025
The representational image shows a PIA plane taking off. — PIA/File
The representational image shows a PIA plane taking off. — PIA/File

KARACHI: A crucial meeting of the UK Air Safety Committee is set to take place on March 20 to review the five-year ban on Pakistan’s national airline and other carriers, according to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials.

The committee will assess the case of all Pakistani airlines — including the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) — and deliberate on the possibility of lifting restrictions.

The ban was enforced in July 2020 by the UK and European aviation authorities following the fake pilot licence scandal. However, Pakistani authorities remain hopeful that the restrictions will be lifted following today’s review.

In 2020, during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) government, then-aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan claimed that pilots were operating planes with fake licences.

This was his response after PIA’s Airbus A-320s plunged into a Karachi street, killing nearly 100 people. Following this, the debt-ridden PIA was banned from flying to the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.