- NA committee directs PIA MD to provide details of all loans taken by airliner since 2006
- CAA says the delay in take-off of a PIA flight, allegedly due to a parliamentarian’s late arrival, was mostly due to late arrival of incoming aircraft PK-369 and technical faults
- CAA to act against passengers who ’misbehaved’ with parliamentarians
- CAA says govt did not share specific intelligence report with authority prior to Karachi Airport attack
The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat decided Friday to visit new IslamabadAirport on October 13 for investigation and physical verification of work done by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
The Committee took this decision after discussing the issue of construction of a new IslamabadAirport in its meeting which was attended by parliamentarians Syed Javed Ali Shah, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhary, Sardar Muhammad Irfan Dogar, Parveen Masood Bhatti, Nighat Parveen Mir, Shahnaz Saleem, Seema Mohiuddin Jameeli, and Farhana Qamar.
CAA representative briefed the Committee in detail.
The committee directed Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) managing director (MD) to provide a detail and comprehensive report on the local and international loans taken by the national flag carrier since 2006 to date.
CAA secretary briefed the committee on the security issues of the airports.
When the Committee enquired how KarachiAirport incident occurred in spite of intelligence sharing by the Interior Ministry, it was informed that specific intelligence report was not shared with the CAA.
The committee appreciated the sacrifices of Airport Security Force (ASF) personnel to effectively secure installations at the airport.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Shaikh Aftab Ahmed stated that it was the Police and Rangers’ responsibility to curb terrorists so Sindh Police, Rangers and other Security Agencies may be questioned and responsibility be fixed.
The committee also discussed the flight-delaying incident which occurred September 15.
The committee was informed that the flight was initially delayed for one and half hours as a repercussion of late arrival of incoming aircraft PK-369 and due to technical fault.
A further delay of 25 minutes was incurred due to the late arrival of two parliamentarians Ramesh Kumar and Rehman Malik.
The authority informed the committee that an enquiry was conducted into the incident and prompt disciplinary action was taken against those responsible leading to immediate suspension from duty of Shift Station Manager Nadeem Abro and Terminal Manger Shahzad Ali.
The authority said that action will be taken against the passengers involved in agitation/misbehaviour with parliamentarians.