LARKANA: The Larkana circuit bench of the Sindh High Court has directed the Civil Aviation Authority to immediately enforce its earlier order passed on March 9, 2022, asking the authority to restore flights to and from Mohenjo Daro Airport, and submit compliance report.
A constitutional bench comprising Justices Mohammad Saleem Jessar and Adnan-ul-Karim Memon issued the directive here the other day while hearing three identical petitions filed between 2017 and 2019.
The petitioners Advocate Sajjid Hussain Mahesar (Constitutional Petition No.D-922, 2017), Advocate Imdad Ali Mashori (CP No.D-959, 2017) and Advocate Rafique Ahmed Abro (CP No.146, 2019) requested the court order resumption of PIA flights at Mohenjo Daro Airport.
Despite having promised to restore full services, the PIA violated its commitment and suspended flights at Mohenjo Daro Airport on Nov 22, 2018, which had not since been restored, according to Mr Mahesar.
The bench stressed that the federal government (aviation division) must explain why compensation for the [suspended] routes [to and from Mohenjo Daro] had not been determined, and submit a report.
The court ordered director general of the CAA to conduct a comprehensive inquiry to determine designated airlines for Mohenjo Daro Airport as a secondary route, their actual service delivery and the CAA’s obligations in cases of non-compliance.
The petitioners said that Mohenjo Daro Airport suffered from infrequent and unreliable PIA flights, despite prior court order, while private airlines had reportedly been prevented from operating at the airport.
They requested the court to mandate two PIA flights daily between Larkana and Karachi, and sought authorisation for private airlines to operate flights on Mohenjo Daro-Larkana route by restoring the old Sukkur via Menara Airport route.
Advocate Balosch A. Junejo, who represented the CAA and Pakistan Airports Authority (PAA), explained the recent division of the CAA into three entities: the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (regulator), the PAA (airport operations and air navigation) and an air accident investigation body.
He confirmed the Mohenjo Daro Airport met the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s standards. Its runway was suitable for Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 aircraft, subject to weight limits, he said, adding the airport had a history of supporting Boeing 737 operations and over 50 years of PIA service, demonstrating its regional importance.
Advocate Irfan Ali Soomro, who appeared on behalf of PIA, pledged to restart flights, after internal discussions, from Mohenjo Daro to northern cities within a week.
As the CAA report showed private airlines were not operating required socio-economic routes, and the authority admitted to enforcement failure, the court ordered immediate enforcement and submission of compliance report.
Established in 1967, Mohenjo Daro Airport was the third busiest in the province and it used to handle five weekly PIA passenger flights, two charter flights and various non-scheduled and VIP/VVIP flights before its operation was halted without reasonable justification.
The bench said that in order to address public inconvenience in Larkana, the court mandated the Director General of the CAA to conduct a comprehensive inquiry to determine the designated airlines for Mohenjo Daro Airport as a secondary route, their actual service delivery and the CAA’s obligations in cases of non-compliance.
The order said that a report be submitted to the court’s sub-registrar within a month and officials from PIA and CAA were required to attend the next hearing on April 9, 2025.
