Pakistan denies Afghan media reports it has suspended Kam Air flights

 

ISLAMABAD, OCT 12: Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has rejected Afghan media reports suggesting they had suspended the flight operation of Kam Air, Afghanistan’s largest private airline, to Islamabad. According to the Afghan media report earlier on Monday that Pakistan has asked Kam Air to stop flights to Pakistan until the next announcement.

According to The Pakistan Daily, officials of the airlines have told Radio Free of Afghanistan that their flights to Pakistan have been suspended for the time being. Officials of Kam Air Airlines said on Sunday, that their flights have been suspended for the past two days and added that they are awaiting the notice of Pakistan.

But according to a spokesperson for the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA)“Pakistan has not suspended the flights.” Describing Afghan news reports suggesting otherwise as “false.” “One of their (KAM) flights didn’t take off from Kabul as passengers didn’t have the required NOC (no-objection certificate) from the MOI [Ministry of Interior of Pakistan].

They, in fact, asked us to let them operate an additional flight in place of the missed flight but Pakistan didn’t allow.” The PCAA spokesperson said the Afghan airline was operating as per schedule. “Passengers from Afghanistan are required to have the permission of Pakistan’s ministry of interior to travel to Pakistan,” he explained.

Afghanistan’s civil aviation ministry last month asked Pakistani authorities to allow Kam Air and Afghan national flag carrier, Ariana, to operate commercial flights to Islamabad, after some airlines had already resumed their flight operations to the war-torn country.

The PCAA granted Kam Air permission for Islamabad-Kabul flights on September 27. Kam Air was the only carrier, besides Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), to operate commercial flights between Afghanistan and Pakistan after the Taliban takeover.

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