The government has decided to prepare and unfold National Aviation Policy 2013 within 90 days by taking on board all aviation stakeholders including airlines, private operators, ground services, cargo and freight management companies and aircraft handling companies. Sources said the last such review was made by Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in 2000 and since then aviation globally has seen a great change subsequent to 9/11.
The process of leasing and operating aircraft at airports has changed considerably and to meet international standards and to get the view point of all stakeholders, letters have been dispatched for suggestions and comments.
A tentative date for holding the first aviation seminar to develop a comprehensive strategy to formulate a National Aviation Policy is under way. While there has been no policy for the last 13 years, this government will unfold a policy in its first 90 days in accordance with its promise. It will be transparent and take care of all concerns of the stakeholders, officials sources revealed.
Sources said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on assuming the office of Prime Minister laid out his vision to improve "Air Travel" facilities in Pakistan. In this regard, he has taken a decision to separate the "Aviation Division" from the Ministry of Defence and lay the foundation of an independent Aviation Ministry.
Shujaat Azeem was appointed Advisor to Prime Minister on Aviation and was given a clear vision to streamline air travel by upgrading the CAA infrastructure, improving "Passenger Facilitation" by streamlining outdated procedures, inducting new technologies, and very importantly, changing the attitude of all agencies at airports to make the life of travelling public comfortable and hassle-free.
The government has also decided that CAT-I scanning machines would be replaced with CAT-III scanning machines to improve the security at airports. The CAT III machines are the standard configurations at all major international airports to counter increasing security threats. This area has been overlooked for a considerable period of time. Efforts on a war-footing have been initiated wherein CAA and ASF have been involved to ensure that Pakistan's airports are properly equipped with latest technology. A working paper has been developed to immediately procure CAT III scanners on urgent basis so that security is not compromised.
Another major security concern is congestion at airports. At Islamabad airport, which is a joint-user airfield, the same had been neglected and all international carriers/flights have been placed in one block time at night thus resulting in problems of congestion to all concerned agencies, passengers as well as for the airport authorities. On an immediate basis, a meeting of all international carriers has been called to develop a staggered time-frame to create a better working environment. The same will be made effective from August 2013.