International Media Shocked At Pakistan Minister’s Statement About Pilots’ Fake Licences

The international media and airline bodies are shocked at Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan’s claim that 150 pilots of the national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had fake licences. International Air Transport Association (IATA) has expressed concern over the ‘serious lapse’ in the licensing and safety oversight by the aviation authorities.

The credibility of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has been seriously damaged after the federal minister’s statement in the National Assembly that made headlines in the international news outlets.

CNN Business Editor-at-Large Richard Quest during an interview said that Ghulam Sarwar has given a very serious statement and the matter needs to be investigated on urgent basis. He said that claim has raised many questions regarding the safety of airlines in Pakistan.

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Meanwhile, the PIA management decided to ground 150 (one-third of its) pilots and started relieving them from flight rosters for allegedly possessing ‘dubious licences’, while asking the CAA to urgently provide the list of all those PIA pilots who allegedly had fake/suspicious commercial pilot licences.

On Thursday, PIA Chief Executive Officer Air Marshal Arshad Malik also wrote a letter to the director general of the Civil Aviation Authority and a letter to the aviation division secretary asking them to urgently provide the list of all those PIA pilots having fake/suspicious licences.