ISLAMABAD: Malaysia has reinstated 18 Pakistani pilots employed in the country after their licenses were cleared by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority on Friday.

The Malaysian Civil Aviation Authority had written to Pakistan after the matter of fake licenses of pilots in the country was raised. It wanted Pakistan to check the credibility of the licences of the pilots working in Malaysia.

After it was confirmed that the licences were credible, the country reinstated all the pilots grounded there.

Airlines in 10 countries had demanded proof of valid flying licences for their Pakistani pilots after it emerged that about a third of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aviators were holding “bogus or suspicious” licences.

The announcement came a month after a PIA plane crashed into houses in Karachi, killing 98 people.

The 10 airlines asking for proof of valid Pakistani pilots’ licences were from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, Malaysia, Vietnam and Hong Kong, according to the CAA.