March 03, 2007	Saturday	Safar 13, 1428

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ISLAMABAD, March 2: Britain on Friday became the second European country to restrict Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) operations to destinations in the UK.

A PIA spokesman confirming the restrictions said that they had been told by the UK authorities only to fly Boeing 777 jets to UK destinations.

The UK ban will be the biggest setback for the national flag carrier which operated 33 flights to five British destinations every week -- the largest PIA operation in any European country.

“Some of the flights to Britain have been cancelled because of the sudden move,” travel agents said, adding that they had received no alternative plan from the airline.

On Tuesday, Germany asked PIA not to fly most of its aircraft to German airports because of safety concerns.

Details of German restrictions revealed on Friday showed that the situation was much graver than what PIA was making people to believe. Germany has allowed only one Boeing 777 bearing tail number AP-BGL to operate to Germany, which implies that the remaining six have failed to meet the safety standards.

Previously, PIA announced that the recently acquired seven Boeing 777 jets would not be affected by the restrictions.

There are also reports that Italy may follow the suit.

The European Union is likely to impose restrictions from March 8 following PIA’s failure to rectify systemic safety deficiencies identified by the European Commission.