KARACHI: Pakistan is in the process of awarding operational permits to three new domestic airlines, officials said on Wednesday, a step industry insiders say will provide a “breather” for a local travel and tourism business badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Q-Airlines, Fly Jinnah and Jet Green Airlines last week applied for Regular Public Transport (RPT) licenses from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to launch domestic flight operations, a CAA spokesperson told Arab News.
“The process for permission to these airlines for starting domestic flight operations in the country is underway,” Saad Bin Ayub, CAA spokesperson said, declining to give a deadline on when the airlines would become operational. “Apart from CAA, multiple government institutions are involved in the process; that may take time,” he added.
RPT licenses would be issued after the completion of legal formalities and final approval from the federal cabinet, Ayub said.
With the launch of the three airlines, Pakistan will have a total of seven airlines, including state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). In addition, the number of aircrafts in the country would also increase. Pakistan currently has less than 50 percent the number of aircraft needed for a country of more than 220 million people.
“Pakistan has less than 50 aircrafts in total despite huge potential,” Muhammad Yahya Polani, vice chairman of the Travel Agents Association of Pakistan, told Arab News. “The country would have more airlines, that will trigger competition in the travel sector for the benefit of people as they will be able to avail cheaper travel facilities.”
The airlines seeking permits are legally bound to keep a minimum fleet size of three airworthy aircrafts for domestic operations. They can operate on international routes after the completion of one year in the domestic sector for which a minimum of five airworthy aircraft on a purchase/dry-lease are required, according to the National Aviation Policy 2019.
Pakistan currently has three airlines — Airblue, SereneAir and AirSial — operating in the private sector, of which Airblue and SereneAir have around 11 and five aircrafts respectively and operate international routes covering mainly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. AirSial, with three aircrafts, launched in December 2020.
People associated with the travel industry hope the new airlines will provide “breathing space” for a dying sector reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Impacted by the severe crisis of coronavirus, our industry has almost collapsed,” said Muhammad Hanif Rinch, chairman of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Agency Program Joint Council. “These new airlines are a ray of hope for our industry, related travel and tourism. We hope for the best.”
Rinch estimated that around 80 percent of travel agents in Pakistan had closed their business as they were unable to sustain losses under during the pandemic.
“We estimate that out of 1,800 IATA approved travel agents, around 1,200 have permanently or temporarily shutdown their businesses while out of 13,000 non-IATA active agents, around 80 percent have succumbed to the COVID-19 crisis”, he added.
Travel agents say new airlines will not only create job opportunities but also help in the promotion of tourism in the country.
“Around 12,000 people from IATA approved agencies are estimated to have lost jobs since the start of the health crisis,” Rinch said. “We expect that most of the people who have spent years in ticketing and tariff sides would get jobs.”
Minimum paid-up capital of Rs 100 million is required to set up an airline in Pakistan. Foreign investment, if any, is allowed but can not be more than 49 percent of the paid up capital so that controlling interest remains in local hands, according to CAA laws.