Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has permitted Shaheen Air International (SAI) to operate flight for bringing stranded passengers back from Chinese port city Guangzhou. The special permission to SAI for operating flight to Guangzhou has been given to bring 262 stranded Pakistani passengers back to the country.
The services and facilities of international operations of the airline have been stopped by the authority because of non-payment of outstanding dues of Rs 1.5 billion since July 16, 2018.
The suspension of services and facilities was initially applied to SAI's international flights except flights for Saudi Arabia in order to recover nearly Rs 1.5 billion dues.
Following the PCAA's action, the airline went to Sindh High Court (SHC) and submitted payment schedule for the authority and pleaded for the withdrawal of the letter dated July 13, 2018 issued by the authority regarding the said suspension of its services.
Consequently, the SHC has directed the PCAA to restore the services and facilities if the airline makes payments as per schedule submitted in the court. Meanwhile, PCAA spokesman claimed that the airline had failed to follow its payment plan that led the suspension of the services and facilities for domestic flights, as well.
Moreover, he said, special permission has been given to the airline to operate flight for bringing stranded passengers back from the Chinese port city Guangzhou. Around 262 Pakistani passengers were stranded in Guangzhou, China after SAI cancelled its flight on July 29, due to PCAA restriction.
Meanwhile, SAI Marketing Director Zohaib Hassan rebuffed the reports of arrests of passengers due to visa expiry as baseless. "After getting permission from PCAA, the flight NL 892 will depart on August 3 from Lahore at 3am and reach Guangzhou at 12pm (CST). The same flight will pick Pakistani passengers and depart from Guangzhou at 2pm and reach Lahore airport at 6pm," he said.