RIYADH – Hundreds of Pakistani Hajj pilgrims have been trapped in SaudiArabia as Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) refused to extend Shaheen AirInternational’s (SAI) Regular Public Transport License (RPTL). Hajjpilgrims trapped in Saudi airports have appealed Prime Minister to helpthem get back home.
Hujjaj requested Prime Minister to take action on the issue. They were atMedina airport for their flight but no representative of SAI was present atthe airport. Hujjaj demanded the government to send an aircraft so thatthey can reach home.
“We are many Pakistanis waiting for SAI flights but no one from airline hascontacted us. Elderly Pakistanis are also stuck waiting for theirrespective flights,” the woman said in the video.
CAA spokesperson informed the public in a press note that RPTL of SAIexpired on August 30th 2018. The authority claims that SAI has no aircraftin its innovatory under this license. CAA added that SAI is a defaulter ofRs. 1.4 billion and the authority is taking legal action to recover itsdues.
CAA refused to take any responsibility for the failure of SAI. Regulator ofcommercial airlines urged public and shippers to be cautious and takeaction against the company to safeguard their own rights.
Despite the cancelation of RPTL, CAA instructed SAI management to makealternate arrangements to bring back Hajj pilgrims. These Hajj pilgrimswere transported by SAI for Hajj 2018.
Spokesperson SAI Zohaib Hassan told ProPakistani that SAI suspended itspost-Hajj operation as CAA refused to extend RPTL.
To resolve this issue, a meeting was held on Friday between the SAI and CAAmanagement where the airline requested the regulatory authority to extendits RPTL. CAA refused to extend the license on the ground that the SAIfailed to pay its dues.
“RPT license is automatically extended every quarter. However, during themeeting today between airline management and CAA, the regulator refused toextend the license thereby risking the journey of the Hajj pilgrims thatwere supposed to fly with us,” Zohaib added.
Zohaib claimed that CAA had assured SAI that no action would be takenduring the post-Hajj operation to ensure smooth management of the Hajjpilgrims. The honorable court had also ordered the same. CAA has againviolated court orders.
He also rejects the CAA claim about the inventory of aircraft and said thatSAI had four A330 and two A320 planes registered on CAA rulebook which werepre-requisites for international operation as per CAA. The suspension oflicense halts the post-Hajj operation of the airline.