The Pakistani Government will review the country's Open Skies policy citing the damage it has done to local carriers - PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad International) in particular.

According to Dawn, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry told a press conference this week that in tandem with the termination, the government will also review its agreements with foreign airlines operating to Pakistan.

Chaudry said that by allowing foreign airlines to cherry-pick their most favourable routes, the policy had eroded PIA's market share to the overall detriment of Pakistan's national interest.

“Most of the profitable routes were given to international airlines which led to a huge loss for PIA,” he said.

Successive PIA administrations have petitioned the government to curb foreign carriers' ability to serve whichever points in Pakistan they choose - the Gulf carriers especially.

At present, the ch-aviation capacity module shows Emirates, Saudia, Qatar Airways, flydubai, Air Arabia, and Etihad Airways account for 53% of Pakistan's 188,861 weekly international seats compared to PIA which accounts for just 21.58%.