Flight to Sialkot

KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines PIA has sought government’s intervention to resolve a tug of war with the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, which is not allowing PIA to operate flights from Sialkot, a senior airline official told The News.PIA’s first flight from Sialkot scheduled for November 30 was cancelled after the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority DCAA refused to issue permission to Pakistan’s national flag carrier.

As per ASA air services agreement with DCAA, PIA can operate flights from any city, says Aijaz Haroon, Managing Director of PIA. The government must react immediately. Otherwise, they will continue to do this in future.It has been a month but the Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority CAA and the defence ministry, which oversees commercial aviation matters, have not come up with any response.

DCAA has not given any clear reason for delaying the issuance of permission. Yet at the same time, it has asked Pakistan to allow Dubai-based Emirates airline more flights to Islamabad and Lahore.ASA, which is an agreement between the two governments, says Pakistani airlines can operate indefinite number of flights from anywhere to Dubai.

PIA operates 34 weekly flights from different Pakistani cities to Dubai. Two flights from Sialkot would have increased weekly average to 36. Out of 39 flights of Emirates, 28 are destined for Karachi, four to Lahore, five to Islamabad and two to Peshawar.Gulf carriers including Emirates have been trying to get more frequency from Peshawar and Islamabad for the past few years as most of the international traffic generates there.

The management of PIA will resist tooth and nail any move to grant more flights to the Gulf carriers to the northern part of the country, airline officials say.Already the Gulf carriers are taking most of the international traffic from Pakistan. According to a recent survey done by PIA, these airlines are taking 77 per cent of such passengers, who are destined for cities in Europe and the US.

PIA officials fear that the national flag carrier’s summer schedule will be badly affected if the Sialkot flight issue is not settled.We want to increase flights to twice daily from Karachi to Dubai and from elsewhere. We had been planning to do that from March. After all this, it is clear they won’t allow us, a senior official said.Junaid Amin, Director General of CAA, said the aviation regulator could not say anything on the issue between PIA and DCAA as ASA had been signed at the government level.

CAA has long played the role of a facilitator for Pakistani passengers. Barring foreign carriers accused of eating into PIA’s market share has never figured on its radar as an issue.But Haroon says he is pushing the matter hard with elected representatives. Standing committee of the National Assembly, special committee on PIA and senators are all on board with us. Some steps need to be taken to control increasing influence of these carriers.