KARACHI, May 24: The defence ministry is learnt to have asked the director general of the Civil Aviation Authority to convene a meeting of representatives of the Pakistan International Airlines and three private airlines to resolve the ongoing airfare price war. Sources said that the meeting is expected to be held in a couple of days to resolve the ongoing issue of cut throat airfares.

The price war between the national flag carrier PIA and the private airlines deepened last week when the private carriers decided to cut their fares by 60 per cent of the existing rates after the national carried introduced a new fare chart.

The PIA spokesman said that the national carrier had reduced its domestic fares to counter the marketing strategy of private sector airlines, who were selling their products on lesser prices.

The new fare chart of PIA perturbed the management of the three private airlines — Shaheen International, Aero Asia and Airblue — and they appealed to the ministry of defence and Civil Aviation Authority to intervene into the matter.

The PIA has reduced Karachi-Islamabad fare to Rs3,540 and Karachi-Lahore and Karachi-Peshawar fares to Rs3,190 including all taxes and surcharges.

The private airlines agitated against the new marketing strategy of the PIA, which drastically cut fares from May 16 on domestic routes also operated by the private airlines.

Sources in the private sector airlines apprehended that foreign investment in the aviation section might be jeopardised if the ongoing fare war continued. They said that the Shaheen Air and Airblue have brought foreign investment — one by Khalid Sehbai, a Canadian Pakistani, and another by Tariq Choudhry an American Pakistani.

The PIA denied that it had any intention to destroy its local competitors and said that fare reduction was just a marketing strategy.