EU safety agency lifts ban on Pakistan national airline after four years

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -The European Union Aviation Safety Agency has lifted its bar on Pakistan International Airlines from operating in the bloc, it said on Friday.

EASA suspended PIA's authorisation to operate in the EU in June 2020 over concerns the ability of Pakistani authorities and its Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) to ensure compliance with international aviation standards.

The suspension came days after Pakistan launched an investigation into the validity of pilots' licenses issued in the country following a PIA plane crash that killed 97 people.

"EASA has now re-established sufficient confidence in the PCAA oversight capabilities," an EASA spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Reuters.

It said that the decision to authorise PIA to perform commercial air transport operations to, from and within the EU was based on the "significant efforts" made by the PCAA.

Pakistan had grounded 262 of the country's 860 pilots, including 141 of PIA's 434, whose licences the then aviation minister termed "dubious". The investigation ultimately did not reveal any major concerns, but the suspension remained in place.

PIA in a statement also welcomed the announcement, vowing to abide by EASA regulations.

Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, while speaking to local broadcaster Geo News, said the lifting of the ban would revitalise the debt-ridden national flag carrier and the effort to privatise it.

The ban was costing PIA nearly 40 billion Pakistani rupees ($144 million) in revenue annually, according to government records presented in parliament.

PIA and the government had been pressing EASA to lift the ban even provisionally. The government's attempt to privatise the airline fell flat when it received only a single offer, that too well below its asking price.

"Wonderful news of lifting of the ban on PIA flights in the entire European Union," Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a post in social media platform X.

($1 = 277.7200 Pakistani rupees)

(Reporting by Gibran Peshimam in Islamabad and Tim Hepher in Paris; Additional reporting by Ariba Shahid; Editing by David Goodman and Jan Harvey)