‘Fake Pilots License’ statement led to Rs 8bn loss for PIA

June 4, 2021

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The Ministry of Aviation has submitted a written response to Senate that the statement about the pilots license by Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar affected PIA’s flight operations for six months, which led to an eventual loss of Rs 7.9 billions.

So far the Civil Aviation Authority has suspended licenses of only 14 pilots based on fake credentials.

The issue of fake licenses came into the spotlight amid the tragic crash of a Pakistan International Airlines plane in Karachi on May 22, which killed 97 people. After the crash then Minister of Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan had told the media that 260 of the country’s 860 active pilots had either fake licenses or had cheated in their exams. The statement eventually led to the cancellation of various flight routes of PIA for several months.