CAA hopes foreign airlines will resume Peshawar flights

PESHAWAR: Though another foreign airline diverted its Peshawar-bound scheduled flight to Islamabad on Saturday, the Civil Aviation Authority is confident major foreign airlines will resume flights for the provincial capital next week. CAA manager (public relations) Abid Kaimkhani told Dawn that foreign airlines, which had temporarily stopped flights for Peshawar, would decide about resumption of flights shortly. “They (foreign airliners) will make a decision on July 1 and we’re waiting for it. We hope they’ll resume flights for Peshawar very soon,” he said. Kaimkhani said a few airlines had diverted flights from Peshawar to Islamabad after attack on a commercial flight in Peshawar lately and security had been improved at vulnerable points at and around the city’s Bacha Khan International Airport since then. Official says security at and around city airport enhanced Three world-class airlines, including Emirates, Qatar Airways and Ittehad, have suspended flights for Peshawar in the wake of a gun attack on Pakistan International Airlines’ Airbus A-310 during landing at the Peshawar airport on Tuesday night. The flight with 196 passengers and 10 crew members on board was coming from Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) when it was fired upon on the city’s outskirts, leaving one woman passenger dead and two stewards injured. A relevant official said Saudi Airlines had cancelled one flight for Peshawar before diverting it to Islamabad on Saturday citing ‘operational reasons.’ “Saudi Airlines did not give specific reasons for diverting flight to Islamabad,” he said. The official said more than 300 passengers were transported to Islamabad by road in the day. He said Air Arabia and Gulf Air were operating to and from Peshawar, while the operations of four domestic airlines, including those of PIA, continued. The officials concerned said law-enforcement agencies had begun survey in the areas adjacent to tribal areas and were maintaining profiles of those living there. They said human intelligence had been strengthened, while the number of police and Frontier Constabulary had been increased at all vulnerable points. The police have arrested over 300 people after attack on the plane. The sources said a proposal was under consideration to change the timing of flight arrival for foreign airlines from night to day. They said the proposal had been discussed with the airlines operating flights for Peshawar. “They (airlines) have yet to accept the proposal,” said an official. According to the CAA officials, despite lack of space and other facilities, the Bacha Khan International Airport, Peshawar is one of the country’s busiest airports with around 1.4 million people landing and departing from there annually. Only Emirates Airlines had operated five flights a week from there before attack on the PIA aircraft. The officials said 90 per cent of the passengers were labourers traveling between Peshawar and the Middle East and other regions. They said despite several shortcomings and lack of facilities, foreign airlines could not ignore Peshawar because it had huge potential. “The number of people landing in and flying from Peshawar can increase if facilities, including loading, unloading and parking, are expanded,” said an official. He said the world’s four top airlines had operations in Peshawar and that two more would begin service in near future. Suspension of flights by foreign airlines for Peshawar has adversely affected businesses directly or indirectly associated with the aviation sector. These days, taxi stands outside the airport wear deserted look. Security around the airport located in a highly secured zones of the provincial capital has already been tightened. Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2014