The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration recently brought down its safety ratings on Pakistan ‘s aviation authority after allegations that several commercial pilots flew with fake licenses in the country. This means Pakistani Airlines are limited to current U.S. service levels and are not permitted for code sharing with other U.S. carriers.
Pakistan’s status under the FAA ‘s International Aviation Safety Evaluation system has tumbled from category 1 to category 2, indicating the FAA determines that this does not meet minimum standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Carriers that currently have an operation to the United States may continue to fly under a Category 2 classification, but no Pakistani carriers currently operate regular flights to the United States on a routine basis, according to the FAA.
Pakistan announced in June that, about 30 percent of its pilots had not taken the certification test of their government and had fake certificates, according to CNN. The announcement came during an inquiry in May after a deadly PIA plane crash in Karachi.
The European Union Air Safety Agency (EASA) also suspended the authorization of PIA to operate for six months with EU member states on July 1st.
