KARACHI: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has suspended the charter service of a private airline and started an investigation into an incident involving its Russia-Syria flights.

A communication issued by the CAA said the charter operations of Rayyan Air had been suspended “till the outcome of a detailed investigation of the incident regarding Moscow–Syria flights”.

Rayyan Air is headquartered in Islamabad, but it operates two huge cargo aircraft from Sharjah. It also manages a charter service between Pakistan and China, using the Pakistan International Airlines’ aircraft. According to a PIA spokesperson, the CAA action has not affected this operation.

The chief of Rayyan Air, retired Wing Commander Fateh Sher Bhatti, told Dawn that some time ago the airline had operated a cargo flight from Sharjah to Moscow from where it took cargo to Syria.

He said the airline again operated a flight about 10 to 15 days ago from Sharjah to Moscow. It was to take cargo from Moscow to Syria, but the aircraft was called back to Sharjah when the airline was informed about an embargo on such flights to Syria.

Mr Bhatti said the airline management had no knowledge about the embargo at the time of its first flight to Syria. He expressed the hope that his airline would resume operations soon after being cleared by the CAA.