Several foreign airlines have canceled their flights due to capacity restrictions, leaving hundreds of passengers intending to fly and out of the country in limbo.
Taking notice of a large number of flight cancelations, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has blamed it on foreign carriers saying that it had not canceled any single flight.
A statement from the aviation authority maintained that the foreign airlines had made overbookings despite knowing the passenger limit.
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It said that the airlines scheduled extra flights and took extra bookings anticipating ease in travel restriction by authorities. However, the extra flights had been canceled after the existing travel restrictions (20 percent of the normal air traffic from all over the world with a few exceptions) were maintained by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC).
In fresh guidelines, the NCOC increased the capacity for direct international inbound flights from Europe, Canada, the United Kingdom, China, Malaysia, and some other countries to 40% of the normal volume of passengers from July 1.
Mass flight cancelations irked passengers who took to social media to vent out their anger. The airlines did not provide any particular reason behind cancelations, rather gave an impression as if the aviation authority was responsible.
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Responding to the criticism on social media, the CAA clarified its position in a statement. A spokesman said that on May 5, the CAA had allowed foreign airlines coming to Pakistan to operate with 20% of the total capacity and this permission has now been extended till July 15.
“CAA has taken notice of the excessive bookings by foreign airlines for Pakistan. The responsibility of booking and suspension of flights lies on the airline concerned as CAA has nothing to do with cancelation or overbooking.”
Meanwhile, a Qatar Airways official said that they had canceled the flights to comply with the NCOC’s restrictions.
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