KARACHI: A final attempt from Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to get relief from the EASA over a ban on its flight operations to Europe has met with failure.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PIA CEO Air Marshall Arshad Malik has written a letter to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for giving provisional permission to the national flag carrier to resume its Europe operation.

However, the European authorities rejected the proposal in a letter written to the PIA CEO, conveying that pre-conditions to lift the ban are not yet met as an audit will be necessary before any approval from the EASA.

The agency said that their experts reviewed all submitted material and additional supporting arguments related to the corrective actions implemented to improve the PIA’s Safety Management System.

It said that regarding the lack of confidence in certification and oversight activities performed by the Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority, which was the second aspect that led to the suspension of your Third Country Operator Authorisation, the investigations performed by the European Commission and by the ICAO have not yet been concluded.

The EASA said that all pre-conditions to lift the suspension are not met and, as an audit will be necessary.

“The Agency decided not to revoke your Third Country Operator Authorisation but to extend the suspension period by an additional 3-month period,” it said adding that their legal framework does not provide the possibility to grant provisional or conditional TCO authorizations. NNI