Britain lifts ban on Pakistani airlines

Islamabad: Britain has lifted restrictions on Pakistani airlines, the UK embassy in Islamabad said on Wednesday, ending a five year ban on the country...

Islamabad: Britain has lifted restrictions on Pakistani airlines, the UK embassy in Islamabad said on Wednesday, ending a five-year ban on the country's beleaguered national carrier.

Flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines was barred from flying to Britain in June 2020, a month after one of its aircraft plunged into a Karachi street, killing nearly 100 people.

The disaster was attributed to human error by the pilots and air traffic control, and was followed by allegations that nearly a third of the licences for its pilots were fake or dubious.

The UK Air Safety Committee had decided to lift the ban following aviation safety improvements in Pakistan, the British High Commission in Islamabad said, adding that decisions on de-listing states and air carriers were made "through an independent aviation safety process".

"Based on this independent and technically-driven process, it has decided to remove Pakistan and its air carriers from the (UK Air Safety) List," it said in a statement.