Saidu Sharif airport: Flight operations remain suspended

KARACHI: Due to negligence of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), flight operations at Swat’s Saidu Sharif airport remain suspended for the last 12 months, ARY News reported, quoting sources.

Flight operations at the Saidu Sharif airport were resumed after 17 years as a PIA flight landed on March 26, last year. The flight operations were resumed due to the special focus of the then prime minister Imran Khan to uplift tourism in the region.

Due to the closure of flights the CAA is bearing the loss of billion of rupees.

Sources said the flight operations continued for some time but later halted. In this regard, CEO PIA said the operations were suspended due to a low number of passengers on the route and it was not possible to run the operations.

First flight landed after 17 years

On March 26, Swat’s Saidu Sharif airport welcomed a first flight, after a hiatus of 17 years.

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight, PK-640, with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar and Communications Minister Murad Saeed and tourists on board, reached the scenic valley at around 11am.

The Saidu Sharif airport had been non-operational since 2004 after the national flag carrier ceased to operate commercial flights to this destination. The national flag carrier plans to operate two flights from Lahore and Islamabad in a week.

Established in 1978, the airport used to handle two flights a day from Islamabad and Peshawar.