RAWALPINDI: A four-member audit team of In­­ternational Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) visited Pakistan Civil Avia­tion Authority (PCAA) headquarters and held meetings with top officials here on Monday.

The team’s audit programme will cover airport operations, ASF security, cargo and air navigation facilities.

A spokesman for the PCAA said the ICAO audit team, led by Oscar Rubio Annibal, discussed the audit programme with deputy director general Nadir Shafi Dar and the director of aviation security, retired Air Cdre Shahid Qadir.

Later, the ICAO team held a meeting with the director general of CAA Khaqan Murtaza, who assured the team of full support and unrestricted access to all areas.

The ICAO team expres­sed satisfaction at the ar­­rangements and appreciated facilities provided to the team, the spokesman said.

The spokesman further said the ICAO team will also observe airport operations, ASF security, airli­nes, cargo, GHAs, catering, and air navigation faci­li­t­i­­es. This on-site visit by the team is the first since 2019.

Earlier, a seven-memb­­er team from the Inter­na­tional Civil Aviation Orga­nisation and Asia-Pa­cific Combined Action Team, visited Pak­istan in November last year.

The aim of ICAO’s Com­bined Action Team was to observe whether the PCAA was following the action plan and, if doing well, then how it can be impr­o­ved further, a CAAA official said, adding that this is not an ‘assessment’ visit.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2024