Rawalpindi: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has issued notices to four airlines – Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Serene Air, AirBlue and Air Seal for cancellation of scheduled domestic flights, causing inconvenience to passengers.
In the light of public complaints, the Director General of CAA has taken strict notice of airline operators canceling confirmed domestic flights and then using the aircraft for international chartered operations.
In the notice, the DG of CAA said that during the period from October 1, 2021 to October 18, operators canceled 383 (33.4 pc) out of 1,145 domestic flights and used the aircraft for international chartered flights.
Pakistan International Airlines topped the list which canceled 130 out of 417 flights with 31.1 percent cancellations, Serene Air canceled 117 out of 250 flights, AirBlue canceled 86 out of 261 flights, Air Seal in 217 50 flights cancelled. In the light of cancellation of domestic flights, CAA has decided to withdraw all international chartered flight permissions immediately.
The CAA has ordered airline operators to submit an undertaking to the aviation authority, before requesting any permission for international chartered flights, that the domestic flight schedule approved for any current scheduling season should be followed by a minimum flight regularity of 90pc and 80pc. Will be operated with punctuality.
The CAA further directed that cancellation of domestic flights, if any, shall be done only for technical reasons or as a result of unforeseen circumstances.
Cancellation of domestic flights on the pretext of technical reasons will be allowed only subject to confirmation from Directorate of Airworthiness of CAA.
The CAA further said that an adequate balance between domestic flight operations and international flight operations is imperative that not only adheres to the vision enshrined in the National Aviation Policy 2019 but also allows airline operators to meet obligations towards the traveling public. Is.
All operators of the airline have been directed to submit an undertaking clarifying that international chartered flight will not be used at the cost of scheduled domestic flight operations.
Chartered flight operations will be resumed on a case-by-case basis after submission of the undertaking.
It said that in the event of flight cancellation, the airline will have to accommodate the affected passengers on its alternate (before/after) flights or flights of other airlines (subject to seat availability) as per the convenience of the affected passengers.
However, the CAA said that if the alternative transport options available to the passengers are not possible, then the full ticket refund will be given to the passengers at the earliest.
In the event of flight cancellation due to insufficient passenger load/business reasons, if the available alternative transport options are not possible for the passenger, in addition to full refund of the ticket, the passengers will be compensated as per law.
The CAA also advised flight operators to reduce cancellations, failing which the CAA would be forced to initiate regulatory action against the defaulting airline.
Published in Dawn, October 21, 2021