Federal Minister for Aviation Ghu­lam Sarwar has announced that Pakistan will appeal against the restrictions of European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA).

“We will solve the safety issues raised by EASA and we had two months to app­eal against the restrictions. PIA planes will fly in the Eur­opean countries soon,” said the minister while talking to journalists here at the PTI regional public secretariat in Saddar on Saturday.

The EASA had temporarily suspended PIA’s authorisation to operate to the EU member states for a period of six months, effective from July 1, with the right to appeal against the decision, after the aviation minister declared in the National Assembly that the licences of 150 PIA pilots were dubious.

Mr Sarwar told the pre­sser that the government was arranging charter pla­nes for overseas Pakistanis in European countries. “Despite the restrictions, PIA flights are being operated for Canada,” he added.

In reply to a question regarding his claim about the dubious credentials of the pilots, the minister said 28 pilots had been sacked, while a total of 219 pilots had been grounded and 191 suspended so far. He said those pilots were not rec­ru­ited by the PTI government, which was making efforts to clean the mess created by previous governments. He vowed to restore the glory of the national flag carrier as the world’s best airline soon.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1573429/pakistan-to-appeal-against-eu-air-agency-restrictions