Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
Senate Sub-committee on Aviation on Wednesday directed the ministry of aviation to provide further details on the proposed amendments by the Ministry on the National Aviation Policy, 2019.
The meeting of the Senate Sub-committee on Aviation met under the convener ship of Senator Saleem Mandviwalla to review and discuss amendments needed in the Civil Aviation Rules, 1994 and The National Aviation Policy, 2019 at the Parliament Lodges.
The Convener Committee directed the Ministry to provide a tabulated comparison between the existing and the proposed policies and reasons for the required amendments.
The committee was briefed that the National Aviation Policy Proposed to make amendments in the existing Air Traffic Rights and Air Service Agreements to restrain the foreign barriers to run indirect flights.
The stakeholders grieved that the amendment will cause loss to the Regular Public Transport (RPT) operators.
The Ministry was of the view that 53pc of the market is being neglected on account of indirect flights due to non-clearance from the respective countries. The Ministry apprised the committee that hopefully the European Commission will announce the clearance in its next meeting
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Member National Assembly lamented the fact that the National Aviation Policy does not support the Regular Public Transport(RPT), “if there are no RPT’s operators there is no Civil Aviation”, he stated while showing demise on the poor policies for the RPT’s. “Pakistan Civil Aviation find ways to put you on ground rather than to make flying easier” he further said.
The Committee unanimously decided to include a separate chapter of the Regular Public Transport operators which the committee believed is the most critical inclusion to the National Aviation Policy
. The present propositions are a mere manual or administrative directive, Khaqan dismayed that the Civil Aviation land is the most expensive land in the country and its customs and MRO’s are impossible.
