Soaring again

BRITAIN’S decision to lift its nearly five-year-old ban on Pakistani airlines, allowing them to apply for permits to resume flight operations to and from the UK, is a boost to Pakistan’s aviation industry, particularly the debt-ridden national flag carrier PIA. The UK Air Safety Committee’s move to reverse the restrictions follows aviation safety improvements in this country. The British High Commission in Islamabad stated that “the decisions on delisting states and air carriers were made through an independent aviation safety process”. It added: “The committee has judged that necessary safety improvements have been made since its original decision. Therefore, based on this independent and technically driven process, it has decided to remove Pakistan and its air carriers from the UK Air Safety List.”