UK transport department keeps PIA on flight safety list.

The Pakistan International Airlines remains on the United Kingdom’s (UK) aviation safety list, with the Department for Transport upholding current limitations.
According to a government representative, the UK Civil Aviation Authority is in communication with Pakistani authorities about the matter.

The Department of Transport told Geo News that all Pakistani airlines remain on the UK Air Safety List. We are in discussions with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and the UK Civil Aviation Authority concerning their presence on the list, and there is a rigorous process to follow before airlines are delisted.”

The UK Air Safety List is a public list of nations and airlines that have an operating prohibition on safety reasons and hence cannot fly planes to, from, or within the UK.

According to an official UK government website, all air carriers recognized by Pakistan’s regulatory bodies are prohibited from conducting commercial aviation services to, from, or within the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Pakistani government sources told Geo News that the UK air safety body had postponed its decision to relax restrictions on Pakistan’s national airline.

The authority was supposed to publish its decision on March 20 following an audit, but it was later delayed until March 25. However, the judgment has been further postponed.

According to government officials, the postponement was due to an incident involving a PIA aircraft in which a tire detached mid-flight.

The World Air Safety Authority and Airbus were looking into the situation. The decision will be put on hold until the investigation is concluded, they added.

Separately, Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Director General Nadir Shafi Dar stated that they have not received a written answer from UK authorities about the PIA flight ban.

In a statement, Dar stated that the CAA was still waiting for a response from British authorities.

According to a representative for the national airline, Pakistan is now anticipating a “positive response” from the UK in addition to the easing of restrictions in Europe.

Last week, it was claimed that the national carrier’s prohibition on flying to Britain will be removed soon after the British Air Safety Committee conducted a crucial discussion on the issue.

The embargo was imposed in July 2020 by UK and European aviation authorities in response to the bogus pilot licence scam. However, Pakistani officials were optimistic that the limitations will be eased after tomorrow’s assessment.

During the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration in 2020, then-aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan stated that pilots were flying planes with fraudulent licenses.

This was his statement when PIA’s Airbus A-320s crashed into a Karachi street, killing over 100 people.

Following this, the debt-ridden PIA was barred from flying to the European Union, the United Kingdom, or the United States.

The prohibition cost the loss-making airline Rs40 billion ($144 million) a year in revenue.

Following a years-long absence, the PIA resumed its long-awaited flights to Europe in January 2025, with its first direct route from Islamabad to Paris.

Regarding UK operations, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan stated that once approved by the DfT, London, Manchester, and Birmingham would be the most popular destinations.

PIA controls 23% of Pakistan’s domestic aviation market, but its 34-plane fleet cannot compete with Middle Eastern airlines, who control 60%, due to a lack of direct flights, despite agreements with 87 countries and important landing slots.