Most licences valid for Pakistan pilots working abroad, says regulator
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A May 2020 photo shows the wreckage of a Pakistan International Airlines aircraft that crashed in a residential area of Karachi.
PHOTO: AFP
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KARACHI (AFP) - Pakistani authorities said on Thursday (July 16) they had confirmed the credentials of almost all Pakistani pilots working for foreign airlines, as the country battles a scandal over aviator licences.
Airlines in 10 countries had demanded proof of valid flying licences for their Pakistani pilots after it emerged about a third of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aviators were holding "bogus or suspicious" licences.
In all, the foreign airlines asked for proof of 176 Pakistani pilot licences.
Of these, 166 "have been validated as genuine and certified by the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) Pakistan as having no anomaly," the agency said in a statement.
The "process for the remaining 10 shall be concluded by next week," it added.
Pakistan's aviation minister sent shockwaves through the industry last month by revealing that some 260 pilots had dubious licences.
About 150 worked for state-owned PIA - almost one-third of the airline's staff of 434 pilots.
The announcement came a month after a PIA plane crashed into houses in Karachi, killing 98 people.
Investigators have largely blamed the crash on the pilots, though both had valid licences.
The 10 airlines asking for proof of valid Pakistani pilots' licences were from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, Malaysia, Vietnam and Hong Kong, according to the CAA.
