In what comes as a huge setback to Pakistan, British airline company Virgin Atlantic has suspended its operation in Islamabad and Lahore owing to some technical and ground reasons. It is cognizance of the fact that Pakistan is extremely short of money.
If reports doing the rounds are to be believed, then high taxes and zero services by the Pakistan civil aviation could be the cause of suspension. Meanwhile, the Virgin Atlantic operations will totally suspend operations on May 1 between London and Lahore and between London and Islamabad on July 9.
The aviation company confirmed it in a statement. “As we continue to ramp up our flying programme in 2023, we’ve taken the opportunity to review our entire network and decided to make a few changes,” the airline’s spokesperson said in the statement.
As per an aviation source, Virgin Atlantic suspended its operations owing to some ground issues with the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Virgin Atlantic asked for high parking and landing fees including taxes, and sadly, the Pakistan CAA couldn’t offer quality services to the airline and its passengers like international standards as per airlines’ rules, the source added in a statement.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan CAA taken up some technical issues like the GPS coordinates and other ground issues faced by the airline. However, they remained unresolved and it may be the major cause of the suspension, as per the source.