Pakistan's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has warned Shaheen Air International (Karachi International) that it faces suspension for failing to properly complete its Regular Public Transport documents, reports The Express Tribune. The CAA has also said that Shaheen cannot operate its planned Multan - Muscat route, due to commence this week, as it has not been approved.
The CAA additionally claims that Shaheen Air owes the regulator PKR480 million (USD4.5 million) in fees and taxes, and has reduced the availability of an airbridge as a punitive measure.
The Chief Commercial Officer of Shaheen, Faisal Rafique, has not denied that Shaheen owes CAA the amount, but says that it represents just three weeks of fees. "We have asked the CAA to grant us time to pay all the pending dues by June. Disruption in cash flows is due to CAA's poor policies," he said.
Rafique accused the CAA of unfairly targeting private carriers and has called for the sacking of CAA's Director General, Asim Suleiman. Rafique claims that the CAA's lengthy delays have hampered its activities.
"CAA's polices and attitude caused us a loss of PKR30 million (USD286,000) when we started our Manchester International flight earlier. Later on, wrong polices caused us to lose the Manchester and Kuala Lumpur International routes," he said.
Shaheen Air International primarily serves the Pakistani domestic market as well as destinations in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Oman. It also serves Guangzhou in China.
