ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet, through circulation of summary, has now allowed Fly Jinnah’s expansion onto the international routes, it was reliably learnt on Friday.
According to sources, Fly Jinnah on 23rd August 2023 had earlier requested the Ministry of Aviation to consider its request under the aegis of the Air Services Agreements (ASAs) as a designated airline of Pakistan. And, the Prime Minister on 19th October, 2023 had granted its approval for circulation of the summary titled” Designation of Fly Jinnah on International Routes” to the federal cabinet for seeking approval for designation of M/s Fly Jinnah on international routes.
After getting premiers’ approval for circulation of a summary regarding designation of Fly Jinnah on international routes to the cabinet, ministry of aviation requested the federal cabinet to approve in principle the request of M/s Fly Jinnah for its designation to Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkiye and UAE, said sources, adding, that the federal cabinet through circulation of summary has now allowed designation of Fly Jinnah on international routes.
“Sky is the limit for the Fly Jinnah airline following the decision made by the federal cabinet regarding Fly Jinnah’s international route expansion,” said the sources.
M/s Fly Jinnah was issued Regular Public Transport (RPT) License on September 25, 2021. The airline is conducting domestic flight operation since October 31, 2022 with a fleet size of three aircrafts.
It is relevant to note that paragraph 3.2.1.1. (9) of National Aviation Policy (NAP-23) stipulates that “Pakistani designated airlines shall be eligible to commence operations on international routes after one year of continued satisfactory operations on domestic routes.”
Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA), in a summary for the federal cabinet, intimated that M/s Fly Jinnah has requested for its designation to Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkiye and United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Air Service Agreements with these states contain provisions for multiple designation of airline operators except for Azerbaijan.
According to the terms of bilateral ASAs (air service agreements), federal cabinet is the competent authority to approve designation of Pakistani airlines to other countries, and relaxation of condition of socio-economic routes as per paragraph 3.2.2.1(9)(a) of NAP-2023.
Earlier, Prime Minister authorized submission of the summary to the Cabinet members through circulation.
Regular Public Transport (RPT) operators are the primary contributors to commercial air transport operations and form significant share in aviation’s contribution to the economic development of a country and National Aviation Policy 2023 (NAP-23) gives several conditions which shall be met by an airline before starting international operations.
According to the conditions for Regular Public Transport (RPT) operations, minimum of three airworthy aircraft of similar capacity on ownership or dry lease basis to start domestic RPT operations and minimum of five airworthy aircraft on ownership or dry lease basis to start international RPT operations.
Good to know, the nice service experience during in Pakistan, hope it will continue and better according to international standards in outside countries, congrats
Domestic flight destinations and their frequencies must be maintained while serving internation routes through fleet addition.
Advice if internationally than must have A380 and above fleets