THE European Aviation Safety Agency has finally lifted the ban on flights of the national flag carrier to and from Europe after more than four years. Nevertheless, it will take months and potentially heavy investment in new planes before the airline can resume operations on lucrative European routes. The ban on PIA flights to the UK is yet to be revoked.

Still, celebrations are in order since the EU ban has been lifted after repeated failures of the Civil Aviation Authority since 2020 to address EASA’s safety concerns. The European aviation watchdog has apparently “re-established sufficient confidence in the [CAA’s] oversight capabilities”. The decision to approve the resumption of commercial operations was based on the CAA’s “significant efforts”.

However, EASA clarified that the EU states would continue monitoring through the “prioritisation of ramp inspections of the air carriers certified in Pakistan and their crew to ensure compliance with aviation regulations and standards and identify safety concerns and trends before they become a threat”.

Besides causing reputational damage, the ban, which came in the wake of a fatal PIA plane crash in Karachi, followed by a scandal over alleged fake pilot licences sparked by the claims of the then aviation minister, has cost the airline an annual revenue loss of nearly Rs40bn. It was also one of the several reasons for the government’s failed attempt to privatise the national carrier a month ago when only one bidder showed up to buy the airline for a paltry Rs10bn for a 60pc stake in the company, against the asking price of Rs85bn. Undoubtedly, the resumption of flights to profitable European routes is being seen as a recovery point for the air carrier and may lead many to call for cancelling plans to sell it off and turn it around by investing in EU operations under a new management.

Similar efforts made by successive governments in the last one decade to resurrect PIA have amply exposed the futility of such exercises. There are many, including the incumbent privatisation minister, who have argued that the last attempt to sell the airline was structured in such a way as to scare away potential investors. Many influential leaders of the ruling PML-N are not in favour of disinvesting the airline. But only the naive can expect the reinstatement of European operations to help restore PIA’s profitability. The reasons that have brought PIA to this pass are many, and deep-rooted.

At best, the new development can only help the government fetch a better response from bidders when the airline is put up for auction again. It is, therefore, advisable that the authorities continue to focus on selling the company rather than investing public money in its fleet to resume its European operations.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2024