LAHORE, Sept 2: The federal cabinet has yet to approve the National Aviation Policy despite its clearance by the defence ministry about a year ago.

The Civil Aviation Authority’s board of directors, the defence ministry and planning commission had approved the draft of the aviation policy in November last and submitted it to the federal government for approval.

“After coming into power, the PPP-led coalition government has yet to feature it (aviation policy draft) in the cabinet meeting which shows that it is not on the priority list of the government,” CAA former director-general Farooq Rahmatullah said. Had it been approved six months ago, he added, a number of initiatives proposed in the policy would have been implemented by now. The aviation policy when approved (by cabinet) would provide a level playing-field to the indigenous airlines, he said.

According to the draft of the policy, Pakistani scheduled airlines shall operate on domestic routes for at least one year before commencing operations on international routes. Operations to at least one secondary airport shall be mandatory for new airlines after three years, starting from the date of operations.

The Pakistani airlines shall be eligible to commence operations on international routes after one year of continued satisfactory operations on domestic routes. There shall be no mandatory commercial agreements as part of bilateral agreements, however, airlines shall be free to enter into such cooperative marketing arrangements as are mutually agreeable, which will be outside of air services agreements.

Pakistan shall continue to follow open skies policy for cargo operations based on third, fourth and fifth freedom traffic rights. Karachi and Gwadar shall be promoted as trans-shipment hubs. Cargo villages shall be established on public-private partnership at major international airports and linked with the NTC.

The private sector shall be free to construct and operate new\existing airports\airstrips\helipad\heliports, including cargo complexes, on BOO, BOT or any other management arrangement and to raise non-aeronautical revenues from these premises. Privatisation of airports shall be pursued to make them more efficient and productive. Airport cities shall be developed on public-private partnership at all major airports.

The draft further reads: “The paid-up capital for regular public transport licence shall be Rs500 million, which shall be reviewed periodically by the authority’s board. The current operators will enhance their paid-up capital to Rs500 million within two years from the date of policy approval.

“Fleet registration in Pakistan shall be mandatory for all Pakistani aircraft operators, except pure cargo aircraft. Requirement of minimum fleet size for a regulator public transport licence aircraft holder shall have at least three airworthy aircraft for domestic operations and four for international operations.

“There shall be no permanent addition to capacity by inducting foreign registered aircraft on wet lease other than pure cargo aircraft. Temporary induction of foreign registered aircraft on wet lease may be permitted under extraordinary circumstances for a short period subject to minimum 90 days.”

The CAA as a regulator shall oversee, intervene and mediate in case of predatory pricing and practices in the interest of the travellers. All fares shall continue to remain deregulated and the CCA shall make rules, regulations and procedures to redress public grievances and adjudicate these on merit.

There shall be no government taxes on the purchase of air tickets for travel to\from secondary airports, on aviation fuel consumed for operations and no landing and housing charges at the secondary airports.

The CAA DG shall permit the induction of fixed wing aircraft as well as helicopters of all weight categories on a lease and purchase basis. Security clearance for the import of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters on a purchase basis shall not be required in respect of Pakistani companies and nationals holding valid licences.

To ensure safe, efficient and expeditious flow of air traffic in Pakistan airspace; state-of-the-art communication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) and air traffic management (ATM) systems shall be established in the country. Security equipment and weapons imported for use by the Airport Security Force, the CAA, private airports and other operators shall be exempted from all taxes and customs duties.

Tax holiday shall be granted to aircraft manufacturers, maintenance companies, flying training schools and ground training schools for 10 years, the draft concludes.

Farooq Rahmatullah said the CAA’s revenue increased from Rs6.5 billion to Rs14 billion during the last two years, suggesting that it might reach Rs30 billion if the airport cities were commercially developed.