UN cautions staff not to fly by Pak-registered airlines over dubious pilot licenses row

Months after the story of dubious flying licence pilots case in Pakistan broke out, the United Nations (UN) has cautioned its agency staff not to travel by any Pakistan-registered airline over safety concerns.

The News International reported that an advisory has been issued by the UN Security Management System (UNSMS) which states: "Due to an ongoing investigation of the CAA [Civil Aviation Authority] Pakistan...due to dubious licenses caution is advised on the use of Pakistan-registered air operators."

According to the Pakistan daily, the UN advisory has been recommended to agencies, including the World Health Orgzation (WHO), UN High Commission for Refugees, UN Development Programme, Food and Agriculture Orgzation, and many others.

In the light of this development, that UN officials working in the country can not travel by any Pakistan-registered airline, even within Pakistan.

According to The News International, UN advisory said that the air operator information is the result of a new automated system, which is linked with the revised global air travel safety policy.

Back in December last year, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had extended a ban on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for three months, despite the Pakist officials' expectations that the ban would be lifted.

The EASA had informed that the PIA that the ban would only be lifted after a safety audit of the Civil Aviation Authority, Dawn reported. The EASA had in July 2019 suspended the authorisation for PIA to operate flights in the EU member states due to safety concerns.

The suspension had come after it was revealed that the credentials of hundreds of Pakist pilots were "dubious". Meanwhile, PIA has suffered a loss of billions of rupees since the suspension of flight operations to and from the European Union and the United Kingdom.

( With inputs from ANI )