ISLAMABAD: The United States (US) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has started reviewing Pakistan’s aviation standards, a Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) spokesperson said on Monday, with Islamabad eyeing resumption of direct flights to the US after a five-year hiatus.
The Pakistan International Airline (PIA), the national flag carrier, was banned in June 2020 from flying to the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom (UK) and the US, a month after one of its Airbus A-320s plunged into a residential neighborhood in Karachi.
The disaster, which killed nearly 100 people, was attributed to human error by the pilots and air traffic control and was followed by allegations that nearly a third of the PIA pilot licenses were fake or dubious.
Earlier this year, the debt-ridden airline resumed flights to Europe and the UK after a four-and-a-half-year ban on the airline was lifted by the European and British regulators. The airline, however, remains barred from flying to the US.
“A five-member FAA delegation, accompanied by two officials from the US Embassy, began its engagement today (Monday) with the PCAA,” Shahid Qadir, a PCAA spokesperson, told Arab News.
