The International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Thursday expressed concern over the ‘serious lapse in the licensing and safety oversight by the aviation regulator’ in Pakistan. The international body’s comments came after the federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan in the National Assembly declared that 150 pilots of the national flag carrier had fake licences.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has suspended international flights till midnight on May 15, according to a notification issued on Sunday. The new directives come as the number of confirmed cases in the country rose to over 12,700 with 269 deaths. On April 18, Pakistan had suspended all domestic and international flight operations till April 30 in a bid to contain the coronavirus.
Rabeeha Abdurehim, an Indian Muslim student refused to accept the gold medal at the Pondicherry University in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Rabeeha who secured first position in the post-graduate department of Mass Communication mentioned that the gold medal was an insult to her and every student fighting against whatever is happening right now and it was in solidarity with all the students around India.
Pakistan’s airspace has finally been reopened to civil aviation, providing relief to many after months of restriction that disrupted course of numerous flights. The Civil Aviation Authority announced on Tuesday, that airspace has been fully opened with immediate effect. Pakistan had fully closed its airspace following violation of its international boundary and airspace by Indian fighter jets on February 26.
During his recent visit to Pakistan, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani offered Prime Minister Imran Khan his country’s cooperation to transform five big airports of Pakistan. As per reports, Qatar will help replace outdated systems and infrastructure with modern technology and will provide financial support for the process to modify them on model of Qatar airport.
As the Pakistani currency continues to dwindle down against the US Dollar, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has decided to rationalise airport charges, which now have to be paid in Pakistani rupees only. Passengers were earlier required to pay $20 and the rate has now been rationalised to Rs2,800 per passenger, with immediate effect, on international departures.
The airspace restriction for flights to India, earlier due to end on 15th June, has now been extended until June 28. After the suspension on overfly operations, flights from Lahore to Delhi, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Sri Lanka and Urumqi were cancelled. However, there are no restrictions on the operations on the country’s western airspace, which is fully operational.