CAA 'gears up' to lift UK travel ban

ISLAMABAD: Following the resumption of flights from Europe, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has intensified efforts to lift the ban on Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights to the United Kingdom, ARY News reported on Thursday, citing sources.

According to sources, the UK Department for Transport (DfT) is set to visit Pakistan in mid-January to assess the situation.

PIA’s direct flight operations to the UK are expected to resume in February as part of the efforts. A team from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) will be arriving in Karachi between January 15 and 17 for a safety audit.

The CAA has contacted UK aviation authorities and requested an exemption from the security audit.

The DfT has shown willingness to approve the exemption and expressed confidence in the manual report provided by the Pakistani authorities.

The British aviation team will formally conduct a safety audit of both PIA and the CAA, which had already undergone audits previously. The Director-General of CAA, Nadir Shafi, is personally leading the teams involved in the process for resuming flights to the UK.

The CAA is also expected to brief the DfT delegation, with PIA planning to operate direct flights to Manchester in the first phase. Subsequently, flights to London and other cities will be added in the second phase. PIA will operate its Boeing 777 aircraft for flights to the UK and Europe.