PESHAWAR, Sept 29: Due to the US-led war on terrorism major flying clubs in the country are going through a financial crisis as a result of which aspiring pilots are finding it difficult to acquire aviation training in Pakistan.

An aviation official said that flying clubs in Karachi and Rawalpindi had almost suspended their operations, while other four centres - Lahore, Multan, Peshawar and Quetta - were facing a severe financial crisis.

Sources told Dawn budding aviators from the Middle East and some African countries, including Jordan, Yemen, Sudan and Oman, used to get training from Peshawar and other flying clubs in the country.

“Now, flying clubs are facing severe consequences because of  the US-led war on terrorism, which drastically affected their revenue,” an official said, adding the Peshawar flying club charged Rs600,000 from each trainee pilot who sought commercial pilot licence.

According to official figures before the 9/11 incident, 10 to 12 foreigners from the Middle East would be admitted to the Peshawar flying club every year.

At present, only five trainee pilots, including three foreigners, are getting aviation training.

The Peshawar flying club was still receiving applications from abroad, but the embassies concerned discouraged their countrymen following the arrest of five foreign students in 2001, a source said. The Peshawar club had also reduced its staff from 32 to 22 due to the financial crunch.

“Officially, there is no restriction on foreigners’ admission, but unseen fear has stopped them from getting admission to aviation clubs in Pakistan,” officials said.

Aviation officials added local flying clubs expected a lot of applications from Afghanistan’s promising aviation sector after the fall of the Taliban regime, but the Indian lobby got wind of the soaring relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan and snatched the opportunity to stop the flow of investment to Pakistan.