RAWALPINDI: Aviation authorities of Kyrgyzstan have sought a clarification from Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) asking for verification of the credentials of 20 pilots working there.

They cited a recent reminder issued to the authority by International Civil Aviation Agency (ICAO) - dated Nov 2, 2020 - which states that Pakistan is yet to resolve all recommended issues in connection with validity of pilots’ licenses; the country along with some other member countries is yet to fully comply with the agency’s standards.

ICAO, in the reminder, identified a significant safety concern (SSC) which remains unresolved by Pakistan. The SSC pertains to the area of personnel licensing and training (PEL) that pilots go through before they are issued licences.

The Kyrgyz authority informed CAA that non-compliance with International Civil Aviation Agency’s recommendations is affecting their process of

issuing a local validation for licences of the Pakistani crew.

Other countries that had grounded Pakistani pilots asking for a verification of their credentials include United Arab Emirates, CAA Malaysia, CAA Vietnam, Turkish Airlines, CAA Bahrain and Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

The European Union Air Safety Agency (Easa) announced suspension of flights operated by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for six months, a day after UAE asked for verification of credentials of Pakistani pilots and engineers.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2020