RAWALPINDI: Restriction on PIA flights to Europe was not imposed because of the pilot licence issue only, but also due to the warning issued to Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) about safety concerns a year ago.

This emerged during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Aviation chaired by Senator Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo in Parliament House on Monday.

Senator Saleem Mandviwalla informed the meeting that the restriction on the PIA flights to Europe was not only the result of the pilot licence issue, but a year before that the PCCA had received a warning about safety concerns. The secretary aviation confirmed that a warning had been received before the pilot licences issue.

The meeting was informed that the PCAA was equipped with a state of the art system for air traffic management and navigation system.

The committee meeting was convened to discuss ongoing issues plaguing the aviation industry.

Senator Sherry Rehman sought immediate attention to the “licence-gate” challenge and the ban on PIA from flying to the European Union (EU) for the last four years. She stressed the need for accountability and transparency in addressing both the issues which were independent of each other, but remained shockingly unaddressed and opaque.

She questioned why the civil aviation was allowed to conduct the exams for licences and put out a list of so-called fake licences at the same time. The then minister for aviation, she added, made a speech that downed PIA and its trained pilots from a slump that they have never been able to recover from.

Senator Rehman also expressed concern over the lack of accountability and transparency in such a matter of grave national importance.

Despite four years of inquiry, she added, no one who was actually responsible had been held accountable for the grounding of the air fleet from flying to the EU, nor for the pilots’ issue.

Senator Rehman said accountability was crucial, adding if ordinary citizens were involved they would have been jailed by now.

She emphasised that parliament holds itself accountable, and the civil service must do the same but must understand that boilerplate presentations are no longer acceptable in the upper house of parliament, because most of us have a better acquaintance with the data and the hidden issues that have been pushed under the rug.

She said the report prepared regarding the European Union’s safety protocols be shared with the committee. She also asked the inquiry report regarding the ban on pilots be presented in the committee. The committee chair also agreed to a special session on the two issues.

The committee expressed dissatisfaction with the working of the CAA and the prolonged unresolved issues affecting the airlines. Members criticised the director general of the CAA for failing to provide relief to pilots and described this period as a ‘dark era’ for Pakistan’s aviation industry. The secretary aviation assured the committee that the pilots’ issue will be resolved in two weeks.

The committee was informed that PIA still remains banned from flying to Europe due to international regulatory air safety concerns. However, the PIA chief executive officer informed the meeting that majority of the air safety concerns had already been addressed.

The director general Airport Security Force informed the committee that a new hi-tech 70kg weighing camera had been installed at Jinnah International Airport which had the ability to see an individual at a distance of 15km and can move on 360 degrees. Moreover, 28 hi-tech baggage scanning machines had been installed at airports while 39 more were in the pipeline.

The ASF chief also informed the meeting that baggage of all travelers were scanned, however, some VVIPs were exempted from body search. He said 24 ASF officials had been martyred so far, including 11 in Karachi in the line of duty.

The meeting was also informed that Nawabshah airport that was affected and its light system damaged due to flooding was an alternative airport of Karachi. The CAA representative said Nawaz Shah Airport had been made functional and can be used for landing of A320 aircraft. And Nawab Shah Airport was being made for landing of Boeing 777.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2024