KARACHI: The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on Monday clarified it had not suspended its services and facilities to Shaheen Air International (SAI) for its domestic and Saudi Arabia sector flight.
The spokesperson for CAA said owing to non-clearance of dues of around Rs1.5 billion, services and facilities to SAI’s flight except Saudi Arabia had been suspended with effect from July 16th, 2018.
Furthermore, the CAA in this respect served a prior notice to SAI and its announcement had also been reported in the media in advance to avoid any inconvenience to passengers.
Moreover, the CAA spokesperson said it had not received any Hajj flight schedule from SAI till now.
Last week, it was reported that a letter served to SAI on Monday, CAA directed the airline to intimate the affected passengers accordingly to avoid any inconvenience.
Moreover, the aviation regulatory body had requested Dubai bound passengers in referred flight from July 13 onwards to make alternative arrangements.
Separately, Shaheen Air International Director Zohaib Hassan on Tuesday said the airline was the largest contributor to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) dues amongst private airlines.
The statement further reflected upon some delay in payments which were ought to be made to PCAA by SAI, while talks are underway to discuss the new repayment schedule.
In response to the CAA’s decision to halt Islamabad-Dubai-Islamabad route, SAI Director Zohaib Hassan said “This is unwelcomed by the management of SAI, as this will only lead to distress for our passengers. He further added that the immediate suspension also does not abide by the PCAA laws.”
He added, temporary delay in payments is limited to a few weeks, and SAI is liable to settle all impending and lawful PCAA dues to its earliest.
Also, Shaheen Air International (SAI) was reported to have reduced its fleet size by half a dozen aircraft.
