PIA’s safety audit to begin this week

IATA Operational Safety Audit to assess flag carrier’s operational management, control systems

ISLAMABAD:

An international team is coming to Pakistan to conduct an operational safety audit of the national flag carrier – the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which is right now facing many international restrictions.

According to the PIA spokesperson, an IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) team will be visiting Pakistan. The team will assess the PIA’s operational management and control systems during its stay and will also visit Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Multan and Islamabad airports.

The spokesperson said the PIA has made all arrangement for the audit. The team issues operational clearance certificate after an audit conducted after every two years, he added.

Ahead of the visit, the PIA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik paid a detailed visit to all operational facilities. During the visit, the heads of the engineering, flight safety and ramp service department briefed the CEO about their preparations.

The CEO also talked to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) authorities to remove all the grounded airplanes and machinery from the parking areas. The CAA has started removing such aircraft. Malik expressed satisfaction over the preparations.

Speaking to media in Islamabad, the Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan also announced that international auditors are going to access the PIA’s operational safety. “After the visit, international restrictions on the PIA will be lifted,” he added.

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in June suspended the PIA flight operations to and from Europe for six months over safety concerns. The move was soon replicated by the US aviation authority. Many airlines also suspended Pakistani pilots.

The restrictions were imposed after the aviation minister on June 26 revealed that the government had grounded over 260 Pakistani pilots due to dubious licenses.

The pilots in the line of fire included 141 from the PIA, 10 from Serene Airline and nine from Air Blue. The rest belonged to flying clubs or chartered plane services.

The issue of pilots possessing suspicious licenses came to surface when an initial inquiry into a PIA plane crash in Karachi on May 22 was presented before the parliament.

“All the airlines and the clubs have been conveyed that the credentials of these pilots are dubious and they shouldn't be allowed to fly,” the minister had said at a news conference.