CAA demands PIA’s access to Kuwait, threatens retaliation

The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has warned its Kuwaiti counterpart that it will restrict Kuwait Airways’ and Jazeera Airways’ operations if the Gulf state does not permit PIA – Pakistan International Airlines flights by October 1, 2021, the Dawn newspaper has reported.

The PCAA said that it would curtail one flight weekly operated by each of the Kuwaiti carriers. However, it warned that it “had the authority” to ban Kuwaiti airlines from Pakistan entirely. According to the ch-aviation schedules, Kuwait Airways currently flies from Kuwait to Islamabad Quaid-e-Azam Int’l and Lahore Int’l (2x weekly each), while its low-cost carrier rival operates to Karachi Int’l (weekly) and Lahore (2x weekly).

PIA has been banned from operating to Kuwait since May 2021, ostensibly to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, even though the Kuwaiti carriers continued to serve the country. As the number of cases in Pakistan continues to drop, the flag carrier sought permission to resume operations to Kuwait but so far to no avail.

“While our national carrier has been vehemently pursuing operating flights to and from Kuwait, approval for the same has not been granted by Kuwaiti CAA,” the Pakistani authorities wrote in a letter to Kuwait.

While Kuwait continues to ban PIA, the Pakistani carrier serves multiple other destinations in the Gulf region, including Bahrain Int’l, Doha Hamad Int’l, Oman (Muscat and Salalah), Saudi Arabia (Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah, and Riyadh), and the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi Int’l, Al Ain, Dubai Int’l, Sharjah).