LAHORE: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Wednesday told the Lahore High Court that outsourcing of country’s three major airports had been deferred for June 3.

CAA Deputy Director (Legal) Farooq Afzal stated this during hearing of petitions challenging outsourcing of management control of Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore airports.

However, Chief Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah expressed dismay over non-appearance of any responsible officer of the authority.

A deputy attorney general asked the court to grant some more time to file a detailed report on the issue and appearance of the authority’s officer conversant with the outsourcing process.

The chief justice observed that the court would stay the impugned process of airports outsourcing if the CAA did not change its conduct.

The CJ adjourned further hearing for May 30 and directed the CAA to submit its report about legal position of the outsourcing the management control of the airports.

Earlier, petitioners’ counsel Amir Saeed Rawn argued that the Civil Aviation Act did not allow outsourcing or privatisation of the airports for being sensitive premises.

He said the airports were used for emergency landing of passenger and air force planes during war situation. He said outsourcing the airports would amount to risking national security. He asked the court to restrain the government from outsourcing of the airports.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2017