PIA moves to allay concerns of global regulatory, safety bodies.

LAHORE/KARACHI -- Anticipating a possible action by the European Union, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has written to foreign missions and global regulatory and safety bodies, assuring them it has taken stringent steps for the safety of passengers and grounded 105 pilots suspected of obtaining licences through unfair means.

The PIA says it has taken action against a total of 141 pilots with dubious licences. Out of them 105 were serving in the organisation while the remaining pilots had either retired or resigned.

The list includes the names of the pilot and co-pilot of the aircraft involved in the Havelian air crash of 2016 in which all 47 aboard, including singer-turned-preacher Junaid Jamshed, lost their lives, raising a question mark over the document that has apparently been prepared in haste by the aviation ministry without separating the serving from the retired, resigned and killed pilots.

Some pilots whose names are on another list of 265 pilots 'for faking their test results', say they will move the court against the authorities concerned for defaming them.

Says 105 pilots with dubious credentials grounded; Palpa calls for judicial commission to probe alleged fake licences

'Keeping in mind that a strong opponent group in the European Union has been lobbying against PIA to ban it for Europe, the national flag carrier has taken the toughest and harshest measures related to the safety of our passengers and grounded (and barred) 105 pilots from operating flights forthwith, after their licences were found to be dubious,' PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez told Dawn on Saturday.

He said of the 141 such pilots, 29 had retired and five resigned. 'The retired pilots with dubious licences will not be able to fly PIA planes,' he added.

Mr Hafeez said a letter had also been sent to all heads of foreign missions in Pakistan, international aviation regulators and safety monitoring agencies, informing them about the stringent safety measures it had taken, including action against the pilots with dubious credentials.

The letter was written by PIA's chief executive officer Air Marshal Arshad Malik who assured them the airline would remain compliant with all international aviation safety and regulatory standards.

When asked whether or not some Gulf airlines had stopped the Pakistani pilots from flying aircraft, Mr Hafeez said: 'These are only rumours.'

Another official said that PIA was a victim in this case as it was the Civil Aviation...