Pakistan flag carrier preparing to restart Europe operations

Pakistan International Airlines' (PIA) Europe operations, suspended in 2020 over safety concerns, are expected to restart in February or March, aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar said on Thursday.

He said PIA had begun planning a restart of its European operations, which have been on hold since Europe's aviation regulator banned Pakistani airlines from their airspace following a scandal over dubious pilot licences.

The statement comes a day after Pakistan said the U.N.'s aviation body, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), had given the country's civil aviation regulator the all-clear in terms of resolving significant safety concerns.