Pakistan’s airspace is completely safe: CAA

EASA issues risk alert for Lahore and Karachi flights

ISLAMABAD: The spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has said that Pakistan’s airspace is completely safe for all types of commercial flights.

The European Union Safety Agency has not informed Pakistan of any threat to European airlines.

Pakistan Aircraft Owners Operators Association strongly reacted to EASA’s directive and called upon Agency to withdraw its advisory on Pakistani airspace.

Aircraft Owners Operators Association’s Imran Aslam Khan termed EASA’s instructions irresponsible. He said that daily flights of different airlines arrive at Pakistani airports.

He said that EASA should monitor European airspace, which is not safe for planes after the Ukraine-Russia tension as many airlines have changed their routes.

Earlier, The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has advised airlines not to fly below FL 260 altitude while flying over Lahore and Karachi due to the “current security situation in Pakistan with the presence of violent non-state actor groups with confirmed anti-aviation weaponry, possibly MANPADS (man-portable air-defence systems)”.

EASA’s advisory is non-binding and airlines are not required to follow the advice. EASA says in its latest advisory note that “there is a continued possible threat to civil aviation resulting in a high risk to operation at altitudes below FL 260”.

It says, “Additionally, Kashmir region remains the site of territorial dispute with sporadic military operations posing a potential inadvertent risk to civil aviation due to a potential risk for misidentification in case of military escalation, particularly in the FIR Lahore (OPLR).”

EASA has advised air operators to take this information and any other relevant information into account in their own risk assessments, alongside any available guidance or directions from their national authority as appropriate.

EASA makes references to similar advisories issued for French and German air operators issued over the last year. EASA had also issued a similar advisory in November last year recommending all operators to exercise extreme caution” when flying over the country and not to fly below 24,000 feet (7,300 metres).

Then and now, EASA has not referred to any specific threat of attack applying to flights into, out of or within Pakistan. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) says its website it’s a neutral body that ensures confidence in safe air operations in Europe and world-wide by proposing and formulating rules, standards, and guidance; by certifying aircraft, parts, and equipment; and by approving and overseeing organisations in all aviation domains.