Pakistan, July 17 -- The United Kingdom's decision to lift its five-year ban on Pakistan International Airlines should have marked a technical milestone. Its true significance, instead, lies in exposing a political one: a single act of ministerial indiscretion in 2020 grounded an airline, simultaneously debilitating a national brand.

In June 2020, then Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan claimed more than 30 per cent of Pakistani pilots held "fake" licences, alleging widespread exam fraud. This reckless speech unequivocally undercut Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority on the global stage. European and UK regulators responded swiftly and decisively: our own institutions struggled to match this level of regulatory seriousness. PIA lost ac...