20.01.2022 - 04:00 UTC
Etihad Airways (EY, Abu Dhabi Int'l) has confirmed it has resumed normal flight operations after it temporarily halted services as a precautionary measure after a suspected drone attack near Abu Dhabi Int'l in which
three people were killed on January 17.
“Following an incident in the construction area of Abu Dhabi Airport, precautionary measures resulted in a short disruption for a small number of flights. However, normal airport operations were quickly resumed. The safety and comfort of our guests and crew is our number one priority,” an Etihad Airways spokesperson told ch-aviation.
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi group had attacked the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in what it said was an operation using missiles and drones, setting off explosions in fuel trucks and causing a fire near the airport.
Amongst others, Etihad Airways had cancelled flights departing for Kuwait, Barcelona El Prat (Spain), Zurich (Switzerland), Milan Malpensa (Italy), Dammam (Saudi Arabia), Phnom Penh (Cambodia), and Dhaka (Bangladesh), according to Flightradar24 ADS-B data. On January 18, EgyptAir also...
07.01.2022 - 13:33 UTC
Pakistan has reportedly resolved aviation safety concerns that arose from a scandal over fake pilot licenses in 2020 that tainted the country and its flag carrier, PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad Quaid-e-Azam Int'l).
This is according to a January 4 letter by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority Director-General Khaqan Murtaza, leaked to the media. ch-aviation could not verify the document's authenticity, and the PCAA was not immediately available for comment.
The scandal broke in June 2020 when PIA had disclosed that 150 out of its 426 pilots held fake licenses. It then emerged that 262 out of 860 active pilots in the country had cheated by having someone else write their pilot exams. In July 2020, PIA fired 52 employees, 25 for having fake qualifications. All this followed the May 22, 2020, crash of a PIA A320-200, in Karachi that killed 97 people.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the US Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) reacted by barring Pakistani airlines from their respective...
30.12.2021 - 05:34 UTC
AirSial (PF, Karachi Int'l) launched its first international charter passenger flight from Lahore Int'l, Pakistan to Dubai Int'l in the United Arab Emirates, on December 30, the airline announced.
This comes as AirSial on December 25, 2021, celebrated the first anniversary of having conducted domestic scheduled flight operations with a Regular Public Transport Licence thus rendering it eligible for international flights.
According to the ch-aviation schedules data, AirSial currently operates the following regular domestic schedules from its base at Karachi Int'l with a fleet of three A320-200s leased from AerCap:
Local media reports the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority has now granted AirSial permission for domestic and international charter flights, ferrying passengers and cargo.
The carrier plans to introduce charter services in two phases, starting from Karachi to Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar before expanding internationally from Pakistan to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia),...
28.10.2021 - 08:23 UTC
The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has dispatched warning letters to PIA - Pakistan International Airlines, AirBlue, Syrianair, AirSial, Vision Air International (Pakistan), and Air Falcon for not adhering to COVID-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for inbound flights to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), cautioning it could withdraw the carriers' permission to operate the route.
Pakistan’s The Nation and Dawn newspapers reported the October 22 warning letters stated the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) had shared two safety assessments of foreign aircraft (SAFA) reports that contained violations of its Safety Decision 2020-20. Concerns pertained to non-compliance regarding the isolation of infected passengers onboard and crew not using full PPE (personal protective equipment).
"Such violations are ignominious not only for the operator but also for the state and the regulator," the PCAA stated, warning that airlines failing to comply would face "sterner action which could include the withdrawal of permission to operate flights to and from UAE airports".
According to the GCAA's Safety Decision, an isolation area comprising of three...
