Regular Public Transport Licence

In accordance with Civil Aviation Rules 1994, National Aviation Policy-2019 and Air Navigation Order ANO-001-ATNR, Regular Public Transport (RPT) License is issued by DG CAA after the approval of the Federal Government for carriage of passengers and cargo by air.

Requirements

• Registration of the Company shall be as Private or Public Ltd under the Companies Ordinance 1984 by SECP or on Partnership deed by Joint Registrar of Firm.
• Minimum paid-up capital of Rs. 300 Million with documentary proof incorporated with SECP.
• Foreign investment, if any, is allowed but not more than 49% of the paid up capital, to the extent where the controlling interest remains in local hands.
• Security deposit of Rs. 100 Million to be submitted before the grant of License.
• A sound business plan, registration documents like the Memorandum and Articles of Association, share allocation form duly verified by Securities Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Trust Deed, bank references three years projected book of accounts prepared by registered Charter Accountants Firm, and any other documents to prove to the satisfaction of CAA that the airline is a legally established body capable of operating commercial flights. (To be submitted with application for licence).
• Where applicable, evidence of paid-up capital (free of losses) / Equity along with details of foreign investment if any i.e. Bank Statements and Certificates from registered Chartered Accountants Firm / Company. Minimum Equity (net worth) to Assets Ratio should be at least 15%, gradually increasing by at least 1% per annum up to a minimum of 20% over a period of next five years.
• Mandatory investment plan in maintenance/training infrastructure to support A & B checks or equivalent standards.
• Comprehensive insurance policy covering aircraft, crew, passenger/cargo and third party risks at the level specified by ICAO conventions, prevailing CAA regulations and Government Gazette Notification on Passenger insurance liabilities.
• Security clearance of company in respect of CEO/Owner/Director/Major Share holders shall be mandatory. If any owner / CE / Director(s) are not security cleared or there are serious or adverse observations by the Security / Intelligence Agencies at any stage, the Operator / Company / Individuals concerned shall have to comply with the instructions of the Federal Government / DG CAA. In case of non-compliance within the stipulated time or failure to submit any valid justification in this regard, the licence / AOC shall be liable to suspension / cancellation in accordance with Rules / Regulations / Conditions of Licence.
• For any shareholding transaction of 51% or more, either singly or in aggregate enabling transfer of controlling interest in a Private Limited Company holding a Licence, prior permission of the DG CAA shall be essential for incorporation in SECP on relevant Forms.

Issuance of RPT (airline) License

• An applicant shall apply on prescribed CAA Form duly filled, and signed by Chief Executive of the Company / Managing Partner of the Firm, if applicable, to DAT & ER along with the requisite documents. After verification of documents and resolution of objections, if any, the applicant shall take ID and Password from AT & ER Directorate to submit the application on-line as well as hard copies to AT&ER Directorate (twelve sets).
• Applications received will be scrutinized by Air Transport & ER Directorate for acceptance / rejection for process within 3 days of receipt of the application.
• Applications once accepted will be processed by Air Transport & ER Directorate in consultation with the other concerned Directorates of CAA within a period of 10 days.
• The scrutinized application, if considered to be in order at AT Directorate, will be seen and assessed by DG CAA and subsequently sent to Federal Government, for decision for approval under Rule 177 of Civil Aviation Rules, 1994.
• On receipt of the requisite approval from the Federal Government, RPT License will be issued by DG CAA after receipt of the security deposit and License issuance fee.
• The License is only a permission to develop an RPT Airline organization and in no way qualify the Licensee to start RPT operations which can only be carried out after issuance of an Air Operator Certificate (AOC). It is necessary that before setting up an airline, the Company management should become fully conversant and comply with Civil Aviation Rules 1994; National Aviation Policy-2019, Air Navigation Orders (ANOs), Airworthiness Notices issued from time to time and relevant international practices / requirements.

Fleet Requirements

·         Minimum fleet requirement is: Three airworthy aircraft for domestic passenger operations, Five airworthy aircraft for International operations and one airworthy aircraft for Cargo operations.

·         Fleet registration in Pakistan is mandatory

·         The Applicant intending to import / export an aircraft / helicopter on ownership or lease basis, shall apply to Airworthiness Directorate, CAA.

Operations on Domestic / Socio-economic Routes

·         After acquiring AOC, the licensee shall operate on domestic routes as per NAP-2019.

OPERATIONS ON DOMESTIC ROUTES

·         After acquiring AOC, the licensee shall be required to operate on at least two (02) Domestic Trunk routes.

·         In addition to operation on domestic Trunk routes, Pakistani scheduled air carriers shall operate on at least one Primary or one Socio-Economic route as per detailed category of routes given as under:

TRUNK ROUTES -

·         Routes between any two of the following cities would form a Trunk Route:-

·         Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and Quetta.

PRIMARY ROUTES

·         Air link with the following destinations would form a Primary Route:-

·         Faisalabad, Multan, Sialkot, Sukkur, D.G. Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Nawabshah, D.I. Khan, Hyderabad.

SOCIO ECONOMIC ROUTES CATEGORY-A

·         Air link with the following would form a Secondary Route:-

·         Gwadar, Zhob, Mohenjo-daro, Mirpur Khas, Muzaffarabad, Skardu, Gilgit, Chitral, Saidu Sharif, Bannu,

SOCIO ECONOMIC ROUTES CATEGORY-B

·         Turbat, Panjgur, Khuzadar, Dalbandin, Rawalakot, Parachinar, Sehwan Sharif, Ormara, Jiwani, Pasni, Jacobabad, Sibi, Mangla, Kohat, Bhagtanwala, Mianwali, Talhar,

Note 12:  There shall be no landing and housing charges at Socio-Economic airports for scheduled services.

Note 13:  The inclusion / deletion of airports in any of above category of Routes would be at the discretion of DGCAA with the approval of Aviation Division.

POLICY GUIDELINES FOR OPERATIONS ON PRIMARY & SOCIO-ECONOMIC ROUTES

·         RPT operators when operating on socio economic routes shall have facilities/incentives as granted to TPRI licencee i.e. no space and air navigation charges while possessing the same RPT licence.

·         Pakistani scheduled air carriers shall operate part of their total capacity — Available Seat Kilometers (ASKs) – floated on domestic Trunk Routes to Primary & Socio-Economic routes.

·         To facilitate operations on Primary & Socio-Economic routes joint ventures or commercial agreements between Pakistani scheduled air carriers and Pakistani charter operators will also be permitted by allowing a Pakistan-registered aircraft to operate on the AOC of two different Pakistani operators

International Operations

·         Pakistani designated airlines shall be eligible to commence operations on international routes after one year of continued satisfactory operations on domestic routes. Continued satisfactory operations would entail the following performance parameters:

·         Flight Punctuality above 80%.

·         Flight Regularity above 90%.

·         No outstanding complaints of more than 30 days on account of Air Passenger Rights as specified by PCAA / Government.

·         Satisfactory operations on Primary & Socio-Economic routes as specified in para D11.7

·         No PCAA outstanding dues.

·         Qualifying airlines shall be eligible to operate on international routes, to countries pursuing liberal Air Service Agreements or where there are no bilateral constraints on capacity.

·         A reasonable proportion of continuous Domestic operations shall be mandatory in relation to international operations, which means that capacity floated by airlines on domestic routes should be sufficient to meet the requirement of domestic sector. The required percentage constituting a reasonable proportion will be monitored and governed by Aviation Division periodically. In this regard, necessary guidance shall be given by Aviation Division to PCAA.

·         Where there are bilateral constraints on capacity, the available capacity shall be allocated amongst the competing airline/ operators proportionate to their capacity [Available Seat Kilometers (ASK)] floated on domestic routes in the previous two scheduling periods. Additionally, airlines’ regularity, punctuality, safety record, fleet registration and financial condition shall also be quantified and considered while allocating capacity.

·         Allocated capacity unutilized by an airline/ operators for two scheduling periods shall be allocated to another Pakistani airline/ operators willing to utilize it, unless the airline/ operators was in a force majeure situation or due to other lawful cause defined by PCAA.

·         Where there are bilateral constraints on multiple designations of airline/ operator the designation of an offline Pakistani airline/ operator shall be replaced with an airline/ operator willing to operate on such destinations.

Condition of Air Operator Certificate

• After the issuance of RPT License to an operator by the Federal Government, it is a regulatory requirement that the operator has to obtain an AOC within two years of issuance of License.

Renewal of RPT (airline) License

• The License holder (Licensee) shall apply to the Director Air Transport & ER, HQCAA, Karachi, on the Company’s Letterhead for renewal of License along with applicable renewal fee at least 90 days before expiry of the License along with the following documents. In case of failure, the licence holder, in addition to the normal fee shall pay a surcharge Rs 10,000/- per month or part thereof. In case of receipt of application for renewal after expiry of the License, no waiver or extension to the License shall be granted until approval of the Competent Authority in the National and General Public interest, as per ANO:-

·         Current annual audited report in line with the NAP-2019 duly signed by the Directors / CEO and their authorized chartered accountant firm.

·         Current Operations Specifications issued by Flight Standards Directorate CAA.

• On receipt of the application, Air Transport & ER Directorate shall seek comments / no objection of the CAA specialist directorates / Branches.
• The licensee should clear CAA outstanding dues, if any before application of renewal of licence in coordination with CAA Billing Branch.
• On receipt of the no objection of the concerned directorates, approval of the Director General shall be sought for referring the matter to the Federal Government for final approval.
• On receipt of the approval of the Federal Government, the renewed License shall be issued by the Air Transport & ER Directorate.

• Clearance of CAA outstanding dues

·        According to para 4.3.3 of NAP-2019, “if any operator defaults on outstanding dues for a period equivalent of two (02) Fortnightly Bills, its operation shall be suspended and recovery shall be made from attachment and/or sale of its tangible and intangible assets. In case of non-compliance the onus will lie on the regulator while operators’ security shall be forfeited with markup”.

·         Upon default of two billing cycles, following mechanism shall be adopted for taking appropriate and regulatory action for recovery of CAA dues:-

·         Finance Directorate shall adjust the advance three billing cycles / security deposit against outstanding dues and inform AT&ER Directorate for necessary action.

·         Suspension of flight operations with immediate effect

·         Issuance of Show Cause Notice for personal hearing

·         In case un-satisfactory reply, Suspension of Licence with prior approval of Federal Government.

·         Cancellation of licence and recovery of outstanding dues from attachment and / or sale of its tangible and intangible assets.

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