RAWALPINDI: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Tuesday cleared licences of 55 of the 57 Pakistani pilots serving in Oman and Qatar as all of them were properly licensed and trained according to the regulations of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), sources said.

After the aviation crisis emerged, the civil aviation authorities of different countries including Malaysia, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain and Qatar formally contacted Pakistan to verify if the commercial pilot licences (CPL)/ airline transport pilot licences (ATPL) issued by the CAA are genuine and validly issued.

Some countries expressed concern over the pilot licensing issue and asked the Pakistani authorities to inform them what measures had been taken to ensure all civilian pilots are properly licensed and trained according to ICAO regulations.

On Tuesday, the Civil Aviation Authority of Oman sent a list of 18 Pakistani pilots working with Salam Air and other operators to verify their licences issued by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority, a source said, adding that the licences of 18 Pakistani pilots were then re-verified and declared valid. He said the Civil Aviation Authority of Qatar also sent a list of 39 Pakistani pilots employed there to verify the CPL/ATPL issued by Pakistan’s CAA.

BD allowed to operate special flight on Dhaka-Lahore-Dhaka route tomorrow

Of the 39 pilot licences, 37 had been verified on Tuesday while the remaining two would take a few days to be re-verified, the source said.

Six Pakistani pilots serving in Kuwait and seven pilots employed in Saudi Arabia had also been cleared though the CAA had not received a formal request from the Arab countries to verify the licences of Pakistani pilots employed there.

Permission to Bangladesh

Separately, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted permission for operating special chartered flight on the Dhaka-Lahore-Dhaka route transporting inbound passengers and one human remains on July 16 through the US-Bangla Airlines. According to the CAA, the permission was subjected to full compliance with all standard operating procedures (SOPs), including those related to transportation of the bodies of Covid-19 patients, issued by the competent authorities.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2020