Why did foreign airlines suddenly cancel flights to Pakistan?

International airlines restricted their flight operations to Pakistan and without stating any reason abruptly canceled flights last week causing inconvenience to a large number of passengers.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has taken notice of the cancellation of flights by foreign airlines and has given a deadline to the airlines till July 8, 2021 to resolve the passenger issues. According to civil aviation officials, foreign airlines had abruptly canceled 80 percent flights to Pakistan, causing severe difficulties for thousands of passengers arriving in Pakistan and traveling abroad.

International airlines including, Qatar Airways, Turkish Airlines, Emirates Airlines, Etihad Airways and Fly Dubai had canceled their flights to Pakistan.

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Babar Hussain, a travel agent in Islamabad, told Urdu News that “flights were canceled by foreign airlines when the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) did not lift the ban on 80 percent of flights coming from abroad.”

According to Babar Hussain, it was expected that from July 1, Pakistan will lift the ban on 80 percent of foreign flights and air operations will be fully restored. “Based on this expectation, foreign carriers put 100 percent flights into the system and started booking, but the NCOC only allowed flights from the United Kingdom (UK), Canada and Europe to be increased by 40 percent.”

It may be recalled that from May 5, 2021, Pakistan had restricted foreign flights to 20 percent, but on June 25, direct flights from UK, Canada and Europe were allowed to increase by 40 percent.

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“Foreign airlines can book tickets according to their scheduled routes and number of flights and do not require permission from civil aviation,” he added. Passengers have faced difficulties due to limited flights by the CAA as the airlines had put 100 percent flights in the system as expected.

Babar Hussain said, “Foreign airlines are providing refund and alternative flights to the passengers but the number of flights will be limited till July 15, so most of the passengers are being refunded.”

On the other hand, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority has blamed over-booking for the cancellation of flights. According to their officials, the CAA has nothing to do with the cancellation and over-booking of flights. Responsibility for suspension and booking of flights rests with the respective airline.

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In this situation, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has announced an increase in flights to bring Pakistanis back from abroad. According to the PIA spokesperson, it has been decided to use Boeing 777 as a substitute for four flights from Doha to Pakistan and Airbus to Bahrain. PIA has announced that the number of flights will be further increased in view of the demand.

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