KARACHI: The European Union on Tuesday banned Pakistan International Airlines effective 1 July (today). The European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) has suspended the authorization for Pakistan's national airline to operate in Europe for six months.

The move follows the grounding of 262 Pakistani pilots whose licenses the country's aviation minister termed "dubious". "EASA has temporarily suspended PIA's authorization to operate to the EU member states for a period of 6 months effective July 1, 2020 with the right to appeal against this decision," a Pakistan International Airlines' statement said.

The statement added that PIA would discontinue all its flights to Europe temporarily.

Meanwhile, sources said that the PIA management had immense pressure from global aviation regulatory authority to ban the Pakistan Airline Pilots Association (PALPA) over its criminal act in order to protect the pilots having suspected licenses.

AFP adds: Flights to Britain, which is no longer in the EU, have also been suspended, PIA spokesman Abdullah Khan told AFP.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020