CAA destroying Pakistan’s Aviation Industry: Captain Asim Nawaz

What Mr. Modi, can’t do, but the honorable and highly honest Commercial Directorate of CAA Pakistan has done to destroy Pakistan’s Aviation Industry by unilaterally sealing the rented premises of Star Air Aviation during global pandemic situation, which made all employees of Star Air and Sky Wings jobless.

Do you have any equitable justification for the prima facie disobedience of PM instructions to help people in this global emergency situation. Letter from Star Air in your honour is as below, which speaks of your hot pursuit against Aviation of Pakistan. Dated 02 June, 2020.

The Additional Director
Commercial (South) CAA Pakistan
J.I.A.P. Karachi

Sub: CLEARANCE OF OUTSTANDING CAA DUES

Reference is made to your letter NO. HQCAA/1906/066/CMCS/IV dated,
1st June, 2020.

It is stated with distressed feelings after painful sealing of Star Air premises on 17th April, 2020 due to non-payment of CAA rental dues. Here I may say that Star Air Aviation is a charter/MRO, bearing Regd. NO. CAA/AW/228. Star Air is serving Domestic and International Charter market for the last 20 years. We were granted charter license in year 2002, which we retained until the year 2015, when the aviation policy was applied, in which we could not continue our operations.

In the last 02 decade we have served the national and international aviation market in various roles, mainly specialized charters and medical evacuation on unmanned fields such as Recodik, Zhob, Sawan, Sui and Parachinar. We have operated on behalf of oil companies on their desired stations transporting their staff to their oil fields twice a day daily. We have also carried out specialized passenger operation between Peshawar and Parachinar among the severe law and order situation in that region between 2008 till 2010 to facilitate the people of Parachinar. Moreover we have facilitated the local courier market by operating for TCS since the year 2003 till 2011 (08 years) and supported them by providing a full-fledged aviation solution to cater their courier movement 05 days a week between Karachi and Lahore and ended up operating 11 different aircraft (mainly involving Boeing 737-200, Boeing 727-200, Illusion 76, Antonov 26, Antonov 24 and Antonov 12) to different destination of the regional countries according to their load needs. We have also operated for Bhoja Air by providing them a third aircraft (DC 9) on WET Lease helping them to launch in Pakistan.

We also have a cargo unit, which holds GSA’s for offline carrier services to the countries which includes international carriers like; British Airways, Air France KLM and Caribbean Airline, the same enables us to move their loads in and out of Pakistan being their sole agent in the country. Our maintenance scope can cover line maintenance and base maintenance which we plan to further expand to ANO 145 which is the airline category maintenance scope for large aircraft. Our 145 is already initiated and will be complied within a month or two as the CAA audits for the same are under way.

During the last 18 years of business, we have established different SBU’s (Strategic Business Unit) comprising of a training facility established at our office situated at JIAP general aviation area, which can accommodate 140 students in our aviation institute “The Academy of Aviation Excellence”. We currently have the following aircraft on our private management:

1. Cessna 402
2. Cessna 414
3. Cessna 421
4. Cessna 206
5. Beach Craft King Air B200
6. 06 aircraft of Sky Wings (Pvt) Limited.

The above-mentioned 11 aircraft are maintained at our approved maintenance facility including their line and base maintenance. Currently we in full compliance of all PCAA rules and regulations applicable to an AOC holder, but due to the financial situation arising out of global pandemic condition, we were unable to pay our commercial dues, which were outrageous for a GA company in the light of previous stringent NAP 2015, and that was the actual cause for non-payment of CAA dues, that we were unable to get the renewal of our Charter license and we ended up losing our revenue stream.

With closure of our business due to Covid-19 situation in the country, we deserved a bailout package to support us and our employees, but unkind sealing of our premises by CAA Commercial on 17th April, 2020 during the serious pandemic emergency situation came as a surprise to us, which has caused us serious mental torture and huge fiscal losses, as all 11 aircraft being maintained by our MRO are grounded since then and both Star Air itself and our client M/S Sky Wings (Pvt) Limited are closed due to unsolicited closure of our MRO.

Factually, unpaid dues were accumulated due to stringent NAP 2015, which may please be in accordance with NAP 2019 to bring it in the equitable limits, to help us payment of all CAA dues in easy instalments to support us to start process for our AOC renewal for expansion of aviation industry of Pakistan.

Submitted for the perusal of CAA authorities for their sympathetic consideration in light of the present global pandemic situation.

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