ISLAMABAD: The US Air Force owes Rs38 million to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) for using Pakistani airspace during the Afghan war more than a decade ago.

Aviation Secretary Mohammad Ali Gardezi disclosed this before a subcommittee of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

During the scrutiny of audit paras of 2003-04, the auditors raised objections that the CAA had failed to recover “outstanding dues of aeronautical charges”.

They said the Civil Aviation Authority could not recover dues on account of landing and housing, route navigation and power supply charges, foreign travel tax and embarkation fee for 2002-03.

Mr Gardezi said the matter of Rs38m outstanding against the US Air Force had been taken up with the American government through the diplomatic channel and it would hopefully be resolved soon.

He said the US Air Force had used Pakistani airspace during the Afghan war and American warplanes had used the space outside the air corridors.

He said the CAA charged double the normal amount for flying outside the corridors. An air corridor is a designated region airspace that an aircraft must remain in during its transit through a region.

“Is this CAA’s claim or has the US government also accepted the liability?” the subcommittee’s convener Syed Naveed Qamar asked.

“They never denied our claim regarding the outstanding amount but they did not pay the amount either,” Mr Gardezi said. “This issue is raised in almost all bilateral meetings of the CAA officials with their US counterparts.”

The committee was informed that Pakistan Air Force (PAF) off and on made some financial adjustments with the US force and the Rs38m could be adjusted between them.

Mr Qamar asked the aviation secretary to settle the decade-old audit observation after engaging the defence secretary. The US embassy’s spokesperson was not available for comments.

Meanwhile, the aviation secretary informed the subcommittee that the Pakistan International Airlines had to pay Rs36 billion to the Civil Aviation Authority.

Mr Gardezi said that during the 2003-04 audit of the CAA there were Rs11m outstanding against the PIA which now stood at Rs36bn.

He said the CAA had requested the Federal Board of Revenue not to impose tax on the outstanding amount, adding it had to pay billions in taxes for the amount not in its possession.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2015

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