RAWALPINDI: The Senate Standing Committee on Aviation has approved two bills to outsource the airports and improve investigation mechanism regarding aviation accidents.

The bills titled Pakistan Civil Aviation Bill, 2023 and Pakistan Air Safety Investigation Bill, 2023 were presented by Federal Minister for Aviation Khawaja Saad Rafiq.

The committee meeting, chaired by Senator Hidayatullah, reviewed the bills and approved them with amendments tabled by the members.

The minister also told the committee that PIA’s suspended flights to Europe and the UK would soon be resumed.

“We are almost done with preparations for the UK, hopefully, flights will resume in September,” he said.

In response to a question, he added the outsourcing procedure of Islamabad International Airport was carried out in accordance with the law and a foreign consultant was hired for the process. He said an advertisement will be published in the next few days inviting companies from all over the world to participate in the bidding process. Mr Rafiq claimed 21 companies from 12 countries have expressed interest in managing the airport’s operations.

Published in Dawn, Aug 2nd, 2023

Opinion

Editorial

Dangerous times
Updated 14 Feb, 2025

Dangerous times

Pakistan accounted for six journalist killings in 2024, of which three were deliberately murdered, according to the CPJ.
Difficult target
14 Feb, 2025

Difficult target

A ONE-two punch delivered by an unforeseen, sharp dip in inflation and an extremely slim base of taxpayers is...
Amazing show
14 Feb, 2025

Amazing show

PAKISTAN’S ability to turn it up at the flick of a switch remains uninhibited. The latest show came in...
Trump’s folly
Updated 13 Feb, 2025

Trump’s folly

This latest pronouncement only reinforces the fears of those who see the plan as a blueprint for ethnic cleansing.
Corruption ranking
13 Feb, 2025

Corruption ranking

IT comes as little surprise. Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index for 2024, unveiled on...
Support from remittances
13 Feb, 2025

Support from remittances

EVEN though workers’ remittances dipped, albeit negligibly, in January on a month-over-month basis, the earnings...