Recently, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Pakistan granted permission to the local aviation industry to enter into air traffic. The new emerging players will go head-to-head with the national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Air Blue and Shaheen Air.
The permit obviously is positive with the increase in air passengers. Despite the high fares, statistics reveal that the number of air passengers within the country has jumped to 3.6 million in 2011 as compared to the 3.5 million in 2010.
The main reason seems to be the unsatisfactory situation of Pakistan Railways along with the passengers subjected to longer waiting time at airports and flight cancellations becoming the norm with the existing air carriers. Ultimately, the emergence of new players is surely a great idea in such circumstances.