ISLAMABAD: The European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) on Tuesday suspended Pakistan International Airlines` authorization to operate to the EU member states for a period of six months effective from Wednesday (today) July 1, with the right to appeal against the decision. Following the EU line of action, the UK Civil Aviation Agency has also suspended PIA flight operations from three major airports, Birmingham, London Heathrow and Manchester. The UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) has also removed PIA from its `Recommended List`, and advised the United Nations staff in Pakistan not to travel on any Pakistan-registered airlines. Earlier…
Author: holidayweekly
GENEVA: Pakistan’s civil aviation authority has found that some 150 of PIA’s 434 pilots have “dubious licences”, the airline said Irregularities found in pilot licences at Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) represent a “serious lapse” in safety controls, global airlines body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Thursday, June 26, after the carrier grounded one third of its pilots. “We are following reports from Pakistan regarding fake pilot licences, which are concerning and represent a serious lapse in the licensing and safety oversight by the aviation regulator,” an IATA spokesman said, adding that the organisation was seeking more information.…
LONDON: UK overseas summer holidays are to be given the green light, with the Government set to announce it is relaxing its quarantine rules. The existing rules will be replaced by a traffic light system that will see countries allocated a green, amber or red label, depending on the level of coronavirus in the destination. Only those passengers arriving back from red category countries will have to self-isolate for 14 days, but all travellers will have to give an address where they plan to stay on their return. More details will be made available on Monday, June 30. The official…
WASHINTON: NASA wants you to help put the loo in lunar, so it’s offering $35,000 in prizes to design a toilet that can be used on the moon. The top prize is $20,000 and the second and third place winners will get $10,000 and $5,000. The deadline for submitting the designs is August 17 and the winners will be announced in October. The space agency has set an ambitious goal of sending astronauts back to the moon by 2024 and the crew will obviously have to go to the bathroom during the mission. NASA may adapt the toilet design for…
MALDIVES: President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has announced that Maldives will re-open its borders for international tourists on July 15th. Resorts, liveaboards and hotels located on uninhabited islands will be allowed to resume business. However, guest houses and hotels located at inhabited islands will have to wait until August 1st. Maldives relies heavily on the tourism industry as it accounts for the largest foreign exchange earnings, making it the biggest economic contributor in the country. However, the sector has come to a standstill due to the stringent public health measures taken to curb Covid-19. The tourism industry has been gearing up…
KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has written to foreign missions and global regulatory, aviation, safety bodies including largest global airlines body, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), assuring them it has grounded all 141 pilots suspected of obtaining licenses through unfair means, the carrier’s spokesman said on Saturday. The move looks to assuage safety concerns after Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that the government had asked various commercial airlines, flying clubs and charter companies to ground a total of 262 pilots until investigations into their qualifications are completed. The action was prompted by a preliminary report on the crash…
DUBAI: The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCCA) has announced a temporary suspension of flights from Pakistan amid a surge in Covid-19 cases in the country. As of June 29. The UAE will not receive passengers coming from Pakistan until a special Covid-19 lab is set up to test them, the aviation authority said in a statement, which was shared on Twitter by UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority (NCEMA). The GCCA said that passengers on all flights from Pakistan, including transit ones, will not be received at UAE airports. The authority urged passengers who are affected the…
BRUSSELS: The European Union is ready to bar most travelers from the United States, Russia, and dozens of other countries considered too risky because they have not controlled the coronavirus outbreak, E.U. officials said on Friday, June 27. Pakistan can also face similar restrictions from international community in coming days. [huge_it_slider id=”556″] By contrast, travelers from more than a dozen countries that are not overwhelmed by the coronavirus are set to be welcomed when the bloc reopens after months of lockdown on July 1. The acceptable countries also include China, but only if China allows European Union travelers to visit…
DUBAI: Emirates has decided to resume its passenger services in seven countries, including Pakistan, from 30th June 2020. An official statement has been released which mentioned, “We are pleased to announce the resumption of passenger services from Pakistan on 30th June.” Passengers using Emirates for traveling out of Pakistan will be required to go through the Covid-19 PCR test. According to details, Emirates will relaunch flights Khartoum from July 3; Osaka from July 7; Narita from July 8; and Athens, Larnaca and Rome from July 5. The airline will fly to 48 destinations. The airlines have previously reopened routes including…
CAIRO: Egypt has announced plans to resume both domestic and international flights next month with countries that have opened their airports, said a report. All airports in the country would reopen on July 1, said a report citing Civil Aviation Minister Mohamed Manar. Egypt had earlier suspended international flights from March 19 as a precautionary measure to curb the spread of Covid-19. Egypt said Thursday that foreign tourists would be allowed to return to coastal resorts like Sharm El-Sheikh in July. Flights would be offering dry food and canned drinks only, Manar said. Printed publications and magazines on board would…