May 01, 2007	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 13, 1428

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RAWALPINDI, April 30: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has proposed that all airlines currently operating foreign registered aircraft will register their 100 per cent fleet in Pakistan by June 30, 2007, according to the draft national aviation policy 2007.

To overcome the current shortage of pilots, foreign captains may be employed on Pakistan registered aircraft up to June 30, 2008. However, co-pilots and first officers will have to be Pakistani nationals.

Under the policy, Pakistani airlines will be eligible to commence operations on international routes after one year of continued satisfactory operations on domestic routes. However, this restriction will not be applicable to airlines acquiring more than 50 per cent of the fleet on ownership basis.

The draft policy states the growing domestic and international aviation sector in Pakistan needs an environment, which not only serves public interest and the aviation sector but also supplements the growth of trade, tourism and national economy. The policy is aligned with national trade corridor, which encompasses government’s vision to route international trade, tourism and passenger traffic through Pakistan. It also aims to provide the public direct connections from Pakistan while ensuring safe, affordable and quality services, the policy document states.

A liberalised market structure and reliance on competition is the best way to deliver efficient aviation services for the benefit of consumers. This would be achieved through bare minimum government-imposed restrictions on the commercial behaviour of airlines.

In order to ensure that domestic operations are adequately spread and people of remote areas have reasonable access to air services, the CAA has made mandatory of minimum 10 weekly frequencies on trunk routes; minimum two weekly frequencies on primary routes; and minimum two weekly frequencies on secondary routes as minimum requirement of operations on domestic routes by Pakistani airlines.

However, operations on secondary routes for new airlines will not be mandatory for a period of three years, starting from the date of operations.

Airlines satisfactorily meeting the requirements of domestic operations and fleet registration will be free to operate on international routes, without formal allocation of frequencies by the regulatory authority, to countries pursuing open skies or where there are no bilateral constraints on capacity.

Where there are bilateral constraints on capacity; the available capacity shall be allocated amongst the competing airlines proportionate to their capacity floated on domestic routes in the previous two scheduling periods. Additionally airlines’ regularity, punctuality, safety record and fleet registration shall also be quantified and considered while allocating capacity.

Capacity unutilised by an airline for one scheduling period and with no plans to operate in the next scheduling period shall be allocated to another Pakistani airline desirous of utilising it.

Where there are bilateral constraints on multiple designation of airlines the designation of an offline Pakistani carrier will be replaced with an airline desirous of operating to that destination.

Domestic charter operation will be allowed to Pakistani operators using Pakistan registered aircraft including helicopters, flown by Pakistani pilots.

International charters originating from Pakistan will be allowed to Pakistani operators only. The CAA will formulate and implement liberalised policy for Pakistani and foreign operators for charter operations on international routes.

The potential of Karachi airport to develop into a business hub, Lahore airport as a business cum tourist hub and Islamabad airport as a tourist hub needs to be exploited. Pakistan is strategically located on the international route, liberal arrangements with our bilateral partners, in addition to providing direct and convenient connections to the local traffic from these airports, shall also help to route the flow of international traffic from East to Europe and North America through Pakistan.