The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is aiming to allow the market forces determine the prices, quality, frequency and range of air services options in Pakistan, says a press release. This was stated by CAA Director General Farooq Rehmatullah in his briefing to Federal Minister for Defence Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, who visited the CAA Headquarters on Thursday to review progress of the Authority.
Highlighting the Authority's commitment to keep pace with global aviation benchmarks, Rehmatullah said that presently the CAA is operating in strict compliance with the safety, security and regularity standards of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
He informed the federal minister that the CAA revenue during 2006-2007 had witnessed a substantial increase of over 30 percent with a profit margin of Rs 6.3 billion against Rs 4.8 billion of 2005-06. The CAA, he said was aiming to increase its contribution to GDP from the existing 0.1 to one percent over a period of five years, for which the Authority had developed its first ever business plan.
He said the Authority had envisaged a tremendous rise in revenue from Rs 11.626 billion in 2007 to Rs 30.83 billion in 2012 marking an increase of 165 percent. The CAA had also envisaged a 94 percent raise in air traffic by increasing the number of its passengers from 17 million to 33 million annually.
Highlighting upcoming projects of the CAA, Rehmatullah said that the Authority was presently developing passenger and cargo transshipment hubs to support and facilitate the objectives of National Transport Master Plan (NTMP) and National Trade Corridor (NTC). Mukhtar lauding the CAA initiatives and commercial plans welcomed the new aviation policy, which he said, would create a level-playing field in the aviation sector.-PR