Pakistan authorities issue notice to PIA, other airlines for frequent cancellation of domestic flights

The civil aviation authority in Pakistan informed that various public complaints have been registered against the cancellation of the scheduled domestic flights by Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and three other airlines in the country.

The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has also issued a notice to the airlines stating that at least 383 out of 1,145 scheduled domestic flights were cancelled from October 1-18, ARY News reported.

The major reason behind the cancellation of scheduled domestic flights is that the aircraft were utilised for operating international chartered flights.

The notice mentioned that 383 out of 1,145 scheduled domestic flights had been cancelled from October 1 to 18 adding that the planes were utilised for operating international chartered flights.

As per the records, the PIA cancelled 130 out of 417 flights, while Serene Air cancelled 117 out of 250 flights, Airblue; 86 out of 261 and Airsial cancelled 50 out of 217 flights in the mentioned period.

Meanwhile, the PCAA has now decided to withhold all international chartered flight permissions and ordered the airlines to request permissions from the aviation authority before operating international chartered flights, ARY News reported.

The airlines have also been directed to submit an undertaking stating that the international chartered operations will not be utilised at the expense of the scheduled domestic flight operations.

( With inputs from ANI )