Malaysia is wrongly attributed to the policy of open skies and liberalization, the expert added.
The non-native airlines are offering relatively cheap fares; they are carrying Pakistani passengers from their (foreign airlines’) airports to various destinations, especially to Europe and USA. ‘Pakistani airlines are therefore progressively losing their market share,’ said an Aviation expert.
According to an estimate, over $500 million business can be diverted to Pakistani airlines only if the service agreements of the foreign airlines are reviewed and rationalized, said the expert.
Furthermore, he added, a brotherly Muslim country’s airline has started carrying more and more passengers from Pakistan to USA, UK and other countries. ‘Even most developed countries, including USA, Japan and the UK who claim to be champions of liberalization and deregulation ensure protection to the commercial interests of their airlines. ‘For example, PIA since long has been trying to get traffic rights from London to East Coast of USA or from Tokyo to West Coast of USA, and the aviation authorities for both routes have continually declined several requests made by PIA,’ reasoned the expert.
While Pakistani airlines are not getting any help, some foreign airlines are getting massive subsides of billions of dollars from their respective governments, he said, adding that as per the fundamental principle of reciprocity and bilateralism, the frequency and capacity of flights between any two countries is always based upon the potential flow of genuine traffic between the respective countries.
PIA General Manager Public Relations Amir Memon said that in the era of open market economy, a conservative aviation policy would only alienate the country and damage revenues. He said that PIA’s market edge is its direct flights which are not being challenged by these non-native airlines carrying local passengers. He also mentioned that PIA is procuring more aircrafts as two A320’s would be added to the fleet in the next couple of months while four more aircrafts would be added to the fleet by the end of the year. This would further allow the national carrier to benefit from the policy instead of being a victim of it.