Staff Reporter
Islamabad
Bilateral relations regarding aviation sector between Pakistan and United Arab Emirates (UAE) help large number of expatriate Pakistanis who live in the emirates. This was said by Federal Minister for Aviation, Ghulam Sarwar Khan during a meeting with UAE Ambassador to Pakistan, Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salim Al-Zaabi on Monday. On the occasion, matters of mutual interest including the promotion of bilateral relations in aviation sector between Pakistan and UAE were discussed. Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that UAE had always extended full support to Pakistani aviation sector,said a press release issued here.
It is worth to mention that the Air Service Agreement (ASA) between Pakistan and Gulf States of which UAE was a part had been concluded in December 1972. A revised text of the ASA was initialed on June 2, 2015. PIA, Air Blue and Shaheen Air are the designated airlines of Pakistan, whereas Emirates Airlines, Fly Dubai, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia and RAK Airways are the designated airlines of UAE. As per MOU signed on June 2, 2015 the designated airlines of Pakistan are entitled to operate unlimited number of frequencies between points in Pakistan and points in the UAE, with unrestricted 5th freedom traffic rights through any intermediate points and to any beyond points.
Currently PIA is having 32 flight operations from Pakistan to Dubai,15 flight operations to Abu Dhabi and 9 flight operations to Sharjah. Similarly, Air Blue is currently having 20 flights to Dubai, 11 flight operations to Abu Dhabi and 18 flight operations to Sharjah.
