The federal cabinet has approved the issuance of a Regular Public Transport (RPT) license to Q-Airways (Pvt.) Limited to launch flight operations in the domestic market.
Q-Airways will commence operations with a fleet of three Airbus-320 aircraft from Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad in April or May, as per media reports.
The approval was accorded in a meeting of the Cabinet on 25 January, and its attendees were informed that Q-Airways (Pvt.) Limited had fulfilled the prerequisites of the license and had requested for it.
Profit by Pakistan Today quoted insiders as saying that “The cabinet, while granting its approval to issue RPT license to Q-Airways, also directed the cabinet division that in future all transport and logistics-related issues requiring approval of the cabinet should be submitted through the Cabinet Committee on Transport and Logistics (CCoTL)”.
The government has inducted new players in the aviation industry under the National Aviation Policy (NAP), 2019. It had approved the renewal of a license issued to the upcoming airline K2 Airways in October 2021, and AirSial was also launched in December 2020 under the same policy.
Q-Airline will be Pakistan’s fourth private airline, and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) expects it to generate more employment opportunities. Depending on its success, the airline may even operate on international routes in the future.
A spokesperson for the CAA revealed that Fly Jinnah and Jet Green Airlines have also applied for RPT licenses. He said, “the process for permission to these airlines for starting domestic flight operations in the country is underway”.
He added that “apart from CAA, multiple government institutions are involved in the process that may take time”.
