Pr No.80 Bilateral Relations Regarding Aviation Sector Exist Between Pakistan And Uae Which Help Lar

Bilateral relations regarding aviation sector exist between Pakistan and UAE which help large number of expatriate Pakistanis who live in UAE.This was said by Federal Minister for Aviation, Ghulam Sarwar Khan during a call on with UAE Ambassador to Pakistan, Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salim Al-Zaabi on Monday. On the occasion, different matters of mutual interest including the promotion of bilateral relations in aviation sector between Pakistan and UAE were discussed. Ghulam Sarwar Khan added that UAE has always extended full support to Pakistani aviation sector. The Air Service Agreement (ASA) between Pakistan and Gulf States (UAE being part) was concluded in December 1972. A revised text of the ASA was initialed on June 02, 2015. PIA, Air Blue and Shaheen Air are the designated airlines of Pakistan, whereas Emirates Airlines, Fly Dubai, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia and RAK Airways are the designated airlines of UAE. As per MOU signed on June 02, 2015 the designated airlines of Pakistan are entitled to operate unlimited number of frequencies between points in Pakistan and points in the UAE, with unrestricted 5th freedom traffic rights through any intermediate points and to any beyond points. Currently PIA is having 32 flight operations from Pakistan to Dubai,15 flight operations to Abu Dhabi and 9 flight operations to Sharjah. Similarly, Air Blue is currently having 20 flights to Dubai, 11 flight operations to Abu Dhabi and 18 flight operations to Sharjah. On the other hand, Emirates/Air Dubai is currently having 134 flights between Dubai and Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Multan, Sialkot, Faisalabad and Quetta. Etihad is having 39 flight operations between Abu Dhabi and Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, Sialkot and Multan. Air Arabia is having 52 flights between main cities of Pakistan. Air Arabia is also having 8 flight operations between Ras al Khaima and 7 main cities. The designated airlines of UAE also want to start flight operation between Dubai and Turbat, Gwadar and Panjgur, with unrestricted 5th freedom traffic rights through any intermediate points and to any beyond points. During call on, Fly Dubai, a designated airline of UAE, has requested 04 additional frequencies for Multan which were vacated by Emirates. The request is under process in consultation with CAA and PIA.Similarly has requested for enhanced A380 aircraft operation from Islamabad International Airport. It is important to note that The designated airlines of the UAE have long established their business models on the concepts of the hub-and-spoke framework and are heavily involved in the carriage of 6th freedom traffic to/from Pakistan. Traffic rights are based primarily on the origin and destination traffic movement between any two States as the 3rd and 4th freedom traffic movement. The meeting was also attended by Shahrukh Nusrat, Secretary Aviation Division and representatives of various UAE based airlines.