Tag: Pakistan Civil Aviation (CAA)

  • Expansion plan for Lahore airport discussed

    Expansion plan for Lahore airport discussed

    Specifics of the Lahore Airport expansion project were recently discussed at a meeting of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) management, and Nespak.

    According to The News, the runway that is now being constructed was also discussed. The discussion went over the operational issues at Lahore Airport, as well as the concerns that travellers confront, and offered remedies.

    Additionally, the attendees discussed the airport’s security status and the importance of developing a comprehensive security policy. The minister was approached with a suggestion to divide the international and domestic lounges at Lahore Airport.

    Lahore Airport’s expansion is urgently needed, according to Federal Minister for Aviation, Khawaja Saad Rafique, since the confluence of flights is causing passengers complications. The presence of birds within airport boundaries threatens aviation safety.

    The meeting was attended by Civil Aviation Authority Director General Khaqan Murtaza, ASF Director General Major General Abid Latif Khan, Nespak Managing Director Dr Tahir Masood, PIA General Manager Syed Zulqarnain Mehdi, General Manager Technical Support Agha Sami, and government officials.

  • 28 passengers on one flight test positive for coronavirus

    Twenty-eight passengers, coming from Bahrain to Peshawar, tested positive for coronavirus at the Bacha Khan International Airport on Tuesday. 

    The airport’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) Obaid-ur-Rehman Abbasi said rapid antigen tests were conducted on 130 passengers who arrived at the airport from Bahrain. 

    “The passengers who tested positive for the virus have been handed over to the district administration,” he said, adding that various areas of the airport had also been disinfected after the development.

    A week earlier, the CAA had noted, “with grave concern”, that passengers arriving in Pakistan from mostly Gulf countries, were testing positive for coronavirus.

    “Upon conducting an investigation into the issue, it has been found that passengers travelled to Pakistan using fake PCR negative test results and endangered not only passengers travelling with them, but also undermined the intense efforts being made at the national level to curb the spread of Covid-19,” said the authority, in a notification that was released on May 10. 

    “The onus of contributing towards this national cause does not fall on the authority alone but is a responsibility that has to be shared by all concerned stakeholders including airline operators,” the notification stated.

    The development is a worrying one as Pakistan, like many countries around the world, continues to struggle with the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

    The current positive cases in the country stand at 882,928 with a positivity rate of 8.2%.

  • Malik Riaz, wife, refuse to get tested for coronavirus at the airport, home

    Malik Riaz, wife, refuse to get tested for coronavirus at the airport, home

    Real estate tycoon Malik Riaz, his wife, and another member of his team allegedly refused to undergo Rapid Antigen Testing (RAT) for coronavirus when landing at Lahore airport, violating the instruction of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC).

    In a letter written to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) headquarters in Karachi, Lahore airport chief operating officer and manager Akhtar Mirza said the Bahria Town CEO refused to give samples for the Covid-19 test. The team of airport health staff went to his residence to follow up with a test but Riaz refused to take the test.

    Letter written to the CAA, regarding Malik Riaz refusing to take the Covid test

    Riaz, along with four other people, landed at Lahore Airport from Dubai. After the passengers passed through the immigration process, the CAA duty staff requested Riaz and his fellows to undergo the RAT, which is a rapid diagnostic test that directly detects the presence or absence of the antigen and gives results within few minutes.

    “But they did not respond and rapidly moved towards international arrivals exit gate,” Mirza stated in the letter.

    Riaz, Bina Riaz and Shahid Mahmood Qureshi, “left the airport without [the test] which is an open violation of NCOC instructions and SOPs”, the letter added.

    The CAA management then contacted the government health team and Riaz’s personal staff officer to obtain the RAT samples from the property tycoon’s residence. A two-member team of airport health staff subsequently left for Riaz’s house shortly “but unfortunately once again [he] flatly refused to give samples for the requisite test.”

    The letter was submitted to the airport services director at CAA Karachi headquarters for his “information and further necessary action”.

    After detection of the coronavirus in some passengers arriving in Pakistan and despite them having negative PCR test results, the CAA tightened the rules regarding testing.

  • Pakistan set to get three new airlines

    Pakistan set to get three new airlines

    Q-Airlines, Fly Jinnah and Jet Green Airlines have sought regulatory approval from Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to launch services in the country.

    The CAA has completed the scrutiny of Q-Airlines and Fly Jinnah while Jet Green Airlines is still going through the scrutiny process.

    According to reports, following the completion of due procedure, the applications would be sent to the aviation division and then to the federal cabinet for final approvals.

    After the launch of these three new airlines, it will take the number of private carriers in the country to six, catering to the 217 million population.

    Airblue, SereneAir and AirSial are the three airlines already operating in the country. National carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is the largest and oldest carrier.

    It is a compulsion for new carriers to operate domestic flights for at least one year with three aircraft before they are allowed to operate internationally.

    SereneAir has already received necessary approvals from the UAE and Saudi authorities to launch commercial operations with maiden flights to Dubai, Sharjah, Jeddah and Riyadh.