The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has lowered its safety ratings for Pakistan's aviation authority following reports that several commercial pilots in the country had been operating with fake licenses.
Pakistan's rating under the FAA's International Aviation Safety Assessment program has dropped from Category 1 to Category 2, meaning the FAA deems that it does not comply with safety standards set by the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organization. With that rating, Pakistani carriers are not allowed to establish new service to the United States or codeshare with U.S. carriers.
Carriers that already have service to the United States are allowed to continue operating under a Category 2 rating, but no Pakistani carriers currently operate regularly scheduled flights to the United States, according to the FAA. Pakistan International Airlines earlier this year had been operating charter services to the United States, but the U.S. Department of Transportation this month revoked that permission.
Pakistan in June revealed that about 30 percent of its pilots had not taken its government's qualification exam and had fake certificates, according to Bloomberg. The revelation came following an investigation of a fatal PIA jet crash in Karachi in May.
On July 1, the European Union Air Safety Agency also suspended PIA's authorization to operate to EU member states for six months.