KARACHI, March 4: Perturbed with the decision of European Union to ban most of the Pakistan International Airlines aircrafts in the 27 countries bloc, the pilots, cabin crews and employees of the national flag carrier have accused their top management for failing to meet international safety standards despite EU warnings, which resulted in what the airline called ‘operational restriction’ on all but seven Boeing 777s.

PIA sources observed the ban imposed by Germany and the UK and an impending ban by the EU on PIA operation was a matter of great embarrassment not only for the employees of the PIA but for the whole nation and it was due to wrong policies of the top management.

The sources said the ban would not only affect the airline’s reputation and revenue but also its employees including pilots and cabin crews. “In this situation how can the PIA assure passengers travelling to destinations other than European countries that our flights are safe for their journey,” one of the many concerned officials said.

The sources said the EU ban had nothing to do with airline’s pilots, cabin crew, flight navigation system or others.

“The ban is absolutely linked to safety issues of interior and exterior of the aircraft. This relates to maintenance and engineering and the higher management of the PIA failed to maintain its fleet (other than the seven 777s) as per their (EU) standards,” said a pilot, whose aircraft had been inspected by the EU officials, who found nothing wrong in the cockpit.

The PIA was warned last year by the EU that most of its planes failed to meet international standards. The PIA fleet that would be affected due to ban includes six Boeing 747-300s, two Boeing 747-200s, seven Boeing 737-300s, one Boeing 727-200, 12 Airbus A310-300s, two Airbus A-321s, one Airbus A310 and three ATR-50s.

The sources said in the post-ban scenario, the PIA will cover whole Europe through the seven B777s after cutting down the number of existing flights. “They have to cut 20 to 25 per cent of the airline’s European operations, as the seven B777s cannot cater the entire traffic,” a source said.

However, a PIA news release said the airline had already undertaken measures to mitigate the effect of the operational restriction in the EU countries and assured its customers that it would endeavour to minimise any dislocation and resultant inconvenience and further assured them that it would continue to provide them safe and reliable air travel.

The airline employees have urged the Ministry of Defence and President Pervez Musharraf to devise an immediate strategy to prevent the national flag carrier from further damage.