The Civil Aviation Authority (CCA) on Saturday claimed that Shaheen Air International (SAI) did not submit any application for a chartered plane to bring back the Pakistanis stranded in China.
Almost 300 passengers have been stranded on the Guangzhou airport since 29th July as all Shaheen Air flights, except their Hajj flights, were cancelled by the CAA over the matter of debt payments amounting to 1.5 billion PKR.
Hassan Baig, the director general of the CAA, said the aviation authority is taking every possible measure for the return of the stranded Pakistanis.
“Pakistani embassy in China reportedly arranged a chartered plane, but the airline didn’t transfer funds they offered to pay,” said Baig, adding hosepipe of SIA aircraft needs to be replaced, and without that, the authority could not risk operating a flight using the plane.
Also read: ‘Shaheen Air not permitted to bring back passengers stranded in China’
Earlier it was reported that civil Aviation Authority (CAA) stopped SAI flight bearing number NL 892 from departing to Guangzhou, China on technical grounds. The flight was supposed to fly to Guangzhou today to bring back Pakistani passengers from the city.
Also read: CJP issues notice to private airline over mismanagement
Following the Supreme Court’s notice into the matter, the CCA permitted Shaheen Air to bring back the passengers.
Shaheen Air Director Marketing Zohaib Hassan voiced concerns over the aviation authority’s decision to stop them saying the CAA raised a technical issue with the aircraft on the last minute which would cause inconvenience for the passengers.
‘It also raises CAA doubts about their intentions against Shaheen Air,’ said the director marketing.
“We are now in contact with other charter carrier companies and without the support of CAA, the aircraft will bear the expenses on its own to bring back Pakistani passengers to the country,” said Zohaib.
