Bloomberg reports that on July 1, 2020, the US Department of Transportation banned Pakistan International Airlines from operating any flights to the United States. This follows a similar suspension from the European Union, which is also valid for six months.
Ultimately this suspension is unlikely to be of much consequence to the airline. PIA didn’t fly to the US even before the current coronavirus pandemic.
This development is coming after Pakistan’s Minister for Aviation revealed that 262 of 860 pilots in Pakistan have ‘fake’ licenses.
Specific to Pakistan International Airlines, which is Pakistan’s largest airline, it was found that around 150 pilots were believed to hold fake credentials. Based on what we know, many people had other people take tests for them, because they weren’t otherwise qualified to fly.❑
