Kuala Lumpur
With the matter of pilots’ credentials snowballing, Malaysia’s aviation regulator said it has temporarily suspended pilots employed by domestic airlines who hold Pakistani licences.
Meanwhile, Etihad Airways said it was auditing pilots with Pakistan-issued licences.
Following disclosure by federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan in parliament that 150 pilots of the Pakistan International Airline had ‘dubious’ licences, aviation authorities of different countries have sought verification of credentials of Pakistani pilots and engineers working there.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) said in a statement on Thursday that the decision came after an evaluation of all foreign pilots in Malaysia.
The regulator told Reuters that there are less than 20 Pakistani pilots in the country. National carrier Malaysia Airlines, Malindo Air — the Malaysian arm of Indonesia’s Lion Air, and AirAsia said they don’t not have any Pakistani pilot.
CAAM said the pilots were employed with local operators, such as flying schools, flying clubs and training organisations.
CAAM said it is making efforts with its Pakistani counterpart to verify the authenticity of the licence holders. It sought full name of the pilot, passport number, Pakistani pilot licence number, CAAM validation number (if available) and Malaysia Licence conversion – PPL/CPL/ATPL Number.—AFP
