KARACHI – Private airlines are violating one of the mandatory conditions to their licenses, namely Regular Passenger Traffic (RPT) by flying more international operations than less profitable but necessary national flights.
It has been learnt that Shaheen Air and Air Blue have been violating this basic rule for quite some time by flying more international operations than flying routes on that include destinations like Gwadar, Turbat and Sukkur.
If these airlines fail to maintain operations to these destinations on regular basis, they have to pay of Rs 500,000 a month to Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as a premium through CAA in this regard, sources added.
As a result, the national carrier PIA has to divert aircraft on its profitable routes to these destinations, where private airlines are liable to operate, which adds to the already heavy losses being accumulated by the national airline, sources reasoned.
When contacted the official spokesperson of PIA conformed to this and said we are incurring losses due to this practice of private airlines as even the amount we get for penalty by these airlines is negligible and does not suffice to our losses that we incur by operations to socio-economic destinations.
PIA received the Rs 500,000 penalty through the aviation authority and that too has been adjusted in different many heads by the authority, so it is of no tangible value, sources said. Sources questioned the violation by private airlines that have resulted in difficulties for passengers looking for alternative options for traveling to domestic destinations.
Under this category of their licenses, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) binds the private airlines to conduct domestic operations than international flights and the authority also provides them with the flight schedule in this regard, sources added.
Sources further said that the private airlines are also allowed to do flying on trunk routes that include destinations like Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Peshawar, but they should not leave the socio-economic flying, which is not being observed by the said airlines for a plausible time.
CAA General Manager Air Transport Department Khawar Ghyas, when questioned on the issue replied that operations based on socioeconomic requirements are mandatory under RPT whether an airline does international, or trunk routes, or not.
Sources mentioned that the private airlines find it easy to pay the penalty to the aviation authority rather than operate their flights on socioeconomic routes; consequently it is the PIA that bears the ultimate loss.
Sources also indicated that the aviation authority is considering the elimination of the penalty fee in its new aviation policy, and this is likely to add to the miseries of both passengers and the national airline.
