February 15, 2008	Friday	Safar 07, 1429

KARACHI, Feb 14: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is set to get two new calibration aircraft next month,

CAA Deputy Director-General Air Vice Marshal Sajid Habib told newsmen during an informal chat at a training workshop held at a local hotel on Thursday.

The workshop, on aircraft accident investigation, was organised by the CAA and its senior investigator, Syed Nazim Ahmed.

The participants were briefed on aircraft design redundancy, air traffic control operations and aviation safety.

In reply to a question about the standard of Pakistani airports AVM Habib said: “We are moving forward to secure ‘A’ category at international level for our Karachi, Lahore and new Islamabad airports.”

He said that all airports were being calibrated on time and operation of all airlines in the country was safe. The CAA was going to get two new aircraft to calibrate the landing and visual equipment at the country’s airports in March, he added.

In Jan 2007, the CAA board had given approval for the purchase of the aircraft which would help the authority expand its flight inspection and calibration services to other countries like Iran, Iraq and Central Asian states.