A day after the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) validated the country’s aviation safety standards, Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Thursday said that Pakistan hopes to resume flight operations to Europe in February and March.
Addressing a news conference, he said that the 10-member validation committee of the ICAO visited Pakistan from November 29 to December 10 and thoroughly inspected the entire system of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), airlines and air traffic control (ATC).
Pakistan cleared the safety audit, he said, adding that the CAA had addressed all reservations put forth by ICAO regarding aviation safety.
“We addressed significant safety concerns,” Khan said. “We hope to resume our flight operations to Europe and the US by February or March this year.”
He also said that a follow-up inquiry into pilot certifications was part of the clean-up process.
Some 262 licences were found to be “dubious”, he said, most of which have now been cleared after further training and testing.
However, 50 pilots had been dismissed because of irregularities.
