ISLAMABAD: A Pakistan Air Force (PAF) passenger aircraft made a refuelling stop at Lucknow on Sunday afternoon.

The Phenom-100 jet, which is used by senior civilian and military functionaries, was on its way to Singapore for inspection when it made the stopover at Chowdhury Charan Singh Airport, Lucknow.

The aircraft remained at the Indian airport for about 50 minutes before leaving for Singapore.

The rare stopover happening in the midst of continuing military skirmishes between India and Pakistan along the Line of Control and Working Boundary and the resulting tensions in ties was blown out of proportion by the media in both countries.

PAF spokesman Air Commodore Syed Muhammad Ali, talking to Dawn, said the break in the journey was planned.

The aircraft crew included five personnel, including the pilots.

“There was no emergency. There was a Pakistani aircraft movement, that is PAAF-854 from Rawalpindi to Lucknow (which) landed at 1201 hours yesterday and departed for Chittagong at 1252 hours,” Indian newswire Press Trust of India quoted Lucknow’s District Magistrate Rajshekhar as having said.

Phenom-100, according to its Brazilian manufacturer Embraer, has a range of 1,160nm.

But, aviation experts say the jet can fly nonstop from Islamabad to Karachi, a distance of some 600nm.

PAF inducted the executive class jet in 2008 and has four of them in its fleet.

Published in Dawn, January 27th, 2015

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