KARACHI: The decision by the Civil Aviation Authority of impounding 16 Russian aircraft including three helicopters is likely to upset Pakistan’s diplomatic relations with the Central Asian Republics (CARs) as most of the aircrafts belong to CAR, while this act may also affect the relief operations in the flooded areas.
Total eight aircrafts including three helicopters was impounded at the Jinnah International Airport Karachi, two at the Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore, two at the Benazir Bhutto International Airport Islamabad, and four at the Peshawar International Airport by the CAA without any notification, which is a violation of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), sources informed Pakistan Today.
CAA Flight Standard Director Captain Naveed Aziz banned all flights of Russian planes from Pakistan’s airports. The decision was made as a result of the Russian cargo plane crash near Dalmia, Karachi late Saturday night. When contacted, Captain Aziz said that this was not the violation of the ICAO rules, and the authority was following the (ICAO) rules.
“I do not want to be indulged in argument, as there are some illegal things the authority has to investigate,” he said, adding that the authority asked for some documents from these foreign registered aircraft companies. The CAA did not impound the airbuses after the crash of A-321 airbus, owned by a private Air Blue company, on July 28 this year in which all 152 passengers and crewmembers died, the sources said.
In the same way, the authority did not impound JS Air Beech jet aircraft after its crash on November 5 that claimed 21 lives. The aircrafts from Pakistan will have to face consequences of the banning of the Russian aircrafts during their foreign operations.
The CAA act of banning Russian aircrafts would create massive problems in the relief process, as the II-76 airplanes are being ordered to stop its operation in Pakistan. If a country would send aid in other than II-76 aircraft, for example in airbus, it would double the cost of the flight, sources added.
