PTI plans to outsource airport management system
By
Zafar Bhutta
Published: July 11, 2019
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PHOTO: EPA
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government is working on a plan to outsource the airport management system of Pakistan, in order to improve international terminals that gave a deserted look due to poor facilities.
Prime Minister Imran Khan had sought a briefing from the Aviation Division on outsourcing the management system, sources told The Express Tribune.
Officials said that the existing plight of the airports, especially international terminals, was critical, as it gave a deserted look compared to other international cities. Now, the PTI government wants to work on a comprehensive policy to improve international airports involving all stakeholders and technical experts.
The initiative aims to bring improvement in facilities at international terminals. There is a need to improve these facilities in order to promote tourism, investment and a better image of the country, officials said.
The plan of outsourcing the airport management system of Pakistan is a part of the PTI government’s agenda to bring innovation and improvement at international airports, said an official at the Aviation Division.
The separation of regulatory structure for the aviation industry and management and land functions are under active consideration under the new aviation policy and a report will be submitted to the prime minister within a month. Aviation Division spokesperson Abdul Sattar Khokhar said the plan is being discussed to outsource system; however, operational and regulatory control would be kept with the government. He said that maintenance of building, parking and passenger services would be outsourced to qualified firms.
The Aviation Division shall complete codal formalities to separate regulatory functions of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) from estate and airport management and furnish a compliance report to the prime minister within one month. The government has also drafted a new aviation policy, as it feels the previous aviation policy, framed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government, had not brought any improvement in the sector. The new policy has been drafted following a request from the national flag carrier.
CAA charges on domestic flights may be removed
The national aviation policy was earlier launched in 2015 with a view to bring healthy changes in the aviation sector of Pakistan. However, due to some reasons, the policy could not trigger desired positive changes.
The aviation sector has faced different problems, which have hindered development. A presentation was given to the prime minister on March 14, 2019. The national flag carrier – PIA – pointed out different issues like extremely high cost of doing business, high paid capital and requirements, unfavourable land lease and rent policy, and high charges levied by CAA and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), which together contributed towards downfall of the sector.
PIA had informed the prime minister on January 1, 2019 that the national aviation policy should be reviewed critically and comprehensively to support the aviation and airline industry of Pakistan. High rate of charges levied by CAA on domestic airlines for the use of facilities needs review and rationalisation for the comfort of doing business in the aviation industry.
It urged reviewing the open skies clauses and associated air services agreements under the national aviation policy, including routes, slots and capacity accorded to foreign airlines, which have been discriminatory and disadvantageous to the national flag carrier.
The draft policy, aimed at ensuring growth of Pakistan’s aviation business, creates new business opportunities with a widening base, which in turn would increase revenue and attract direct and indirect investments, along with creating job opportunities. Another important aspect is to safeguard the interest of national and other domestic carriers against unhealthy competition, while at the same time, provide incentives to international carriers for making Pakistan a dream destination.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 11th, 2019.
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Govt decides to outsource country's three major airports
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The Federal Cabinet on Wednesday approved a number of agenda items, enhancing cooperation and agreements between Pakistan and other countries in the field of aviation, defence, interior, health, law and order and others.
The cabinet also approved a policy to outsource the management of the country's three major airports along the lines of a public-private partnership.
"This is the policy that was approved by the Civil Aviation Authority in 2015," Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb said while briefing the media following the cabinet meeting.
"By including private companies in the public sector, the management of the airports will be outsourced," she said, adding that Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad's international airports would be the first to be tackled by this change in policy.
The state minister explained that the policy made clear that the roles of operation, management and maintenance will be separate from the regulator.
"Airports across the world are regulated by organisations such as the Civil Aviation Authority and managed by private companies," Aurangzeb maintained.
"There are different operations of public-private partnerships. Under these models, not only have management and maintenance been outsourced to private companies, but also if a private company wants to build an airport they will be facilitated," she said.
"Across the world, the regulator and the service provider are not the same," the minister said.
Aurungzeb explained that because the regulator and service provider have remained the same in Pakistan, any incident that took place ─ for example if drugs were found on a flight ─ it had to be investigated by the service provider.
She added that a plan in this regard is yet to be made and signed with the private sector. "Once the plan is signed, an announcement will be made."
Moratorium on new gas connections lifted
The federal cabinet lifted moratorium on new gas connections, following a green signal from the Cabinet Committee on Energy.
The cabinet also approved execution of gas development schemes, initiated during the present government.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, while discussing problems related to housing sector, said in view of growing urbanisation, the government would facilitate the low income groups in housing sector.
He said urbanisation was increasing at a rapid pace due to development activities and there was a need to cater to the demands in housing sector.
Imran Khan Called a Meeting to Discuss the Offer Made by the Qatari Emir to Help the Government in the Upgrading of Five Major Airports in Pakistan
Hussain Saeed July 16, 2019
The Qatari Emir also proposed to outsource the up-gradation process of airports. A government official has said that a lot of meetings have been taking place regarding the conversion of airports and the proposal offered by the Emir of Qatar has also come under discussion. The government believes that to facilitate investors and tourists the up-gradation of airports is necessary, however, the Civil Aviation Authority had shown reservations with regard to outsourcing of the services of Pakistan’s airports.
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The official also said that PM Khan believes that there is an immense potential of tourism in Pakistan and if the government succeeds in utilizing this potential it can attract a considerable foreign exchange in the country. For this purpose, the PM has summoned a meeting for consultation which is expected to reach a final decision for converting airports with modern facilities. The government has put a lot of focus on the tourism sector since the beginning. In this regard, the PM previously launched an online visa system for foreign visitors from all across the world to boost tourism in the country and to attract foreign investments. The government claimed that this online visa facility will make Pakistan more accessible for investors across the globe.