Pakistan’s AirBlue banned from Peshawar ops due to fake PCRs

The Pakistani Civil Aviation Authority (PkCAA) has banned AirBlue (PA, Karachi Int’l) from flying to Peshawar after, on two occasions, the airline carried over fifty passengers with fake PCR test certificates to the city, the ProPakistani online newspaper has reported. Both incidents concerned the airline’s flights from Dubai Int’l. On May 10, it was found to have carried 24 passengers with fake PCR tests, some of whom later tested positive for COVID-19 on arrival in Peshawar. Although the PkCAA put the airline on notice after the event, AirBlue was subsequently found to have carried 27 passengers with invalid certificates on its flight from Sharjah on May 16. The second violation led the PkCAA to suspend the airline’s permit for operations from Dubai and Sharjah to Peshawar. Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows that AirBlue’s last Dubai-Peshawar flight was operated on May 12, followed by the flight from Sharjah on May 16. The decision does not affect AirBlue’s other routes, which continue to operate as planned. Flightradar24 ADS-B data indicates has the carrier also continued to fly to Peshawar from Abu Dhabi Int’l as of May 18. The ch-aviation schedules module shows that AirBlue does not operate any scheduled domestic routes from Peshawar. Air Blue, which is owned by former Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, operates five A320-200s and five A321-200s, the ch-aviation fleets advanced module shows.