KARACHI: Malaysia has verified that all Pakistani pilots currently employed in the country hold valid licences and it has reinstated them with immediate effect, its aviation regulator said in a statement on Friday.
The pilots were suspended earlier this month after authorities in Pakistan discovered that up to a third of the country’s pilots may have falsified their qualifications.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia said 18 Pakistani pilot licence holders in the country were verified by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority.
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Earlier this month, the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) had asked Pakistani authorities to provide information of pilots employed by the operator in view of recent reports of fake licences.
The action of Malaysian aviation authority was followed by the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom (UK) that had sought details of the pilots’ licences from Pakistan.
On June 26, Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan had revealed that the total number of ‘suspicious pilots’ was 262 in different airlines including Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
