ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) while restructuring the authority has decided to divide it...

• The authority has been divided into three divisions, including the Regulatory Division, Airport Services and Operations, and Support Functions.
• In the new setup, the Director-General of CAA will supervise the two posts of Additional Director-Generals for the Regulatory Division and the Airport Services and Operations, respectively.

• 23 countries have been placed in Category A and do not require a COVID-19 PCR test.
• The categorization has been made on the basis of coronavirus risk assessment by Pakistan.

• The CAA has announced that in the first phase of the operation, e-gates will be installed at airports in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
• E-gates are a self-automated service option which facilitates the passengers by scanning their passport before issued them their boarding passes.

• The development was made after authorities closed the main runway for upgradation work, which will be completed in 18 months, says the spokesperson.
• After the upgradation, the landing of bigger jets and Boeing 777 will be made on the airport besides initiation of wider flight operation of more international airlines.

• Islamabad last week banned flights from the UK until December 29 after a new strain of coronavirus emerged there.
• The instructions stipulated in the previous letter in this regard are here by extended till January 04, 2021, reads CAA notification.

• "The media report is not based on facts rather rumours," says CAA.
• "The incident happened when the plane was at 37,000 feet above the land," claims spokesperson.

• Ryanair did not say in its statement what policy changes the CAA had made.

• CAA has directed the private airline to submit an international flight schedule.

• The notification issued by the CAA's Director of Transport states that the number of passengers arriving from abroad has been divided into 3 categories with reference to Coronavirus.

The authority has also made wearing masks throughout the flight compulsory, as second wave of pandemic took over the country.

• The new Civil Aviation Authority Advisory will remain in effect until December 31, 2020.

In it’s 207-page report, which was submitted at the Sindh High Court (SHC), the CAA held PIA's Engineering and Maintenance Department responsible for the air crash.

• Aviation authority states that updated version of SOPs is related to international passengers, chartered and private aircraft flights

• As per instructions, only drivers will be allowed to drop passengers at the airports’ drop lines and those coming to pick travellers up will be required to wait in their vehicles until flyers’ arrival

The latest advisory divides international travelers into two categories A – will not need a negative COVID-19 test – and B – will be required to undergo coronavirus screening 96 hours prior to boarding a flight to Pakistan.

The ill-fated flight PK-661, was travelling from Chitral to Islamabad.

• The CAA imposed a fine of Rs 100,000 on Turkish Airlines for violating the COVID19 virus SOPs in accordance with aviation laws.

• A video was shared on social media where in a passenger alleged that he was slapped by staff at the airport.

• At least 30 countries including, China, Japan, New Zealand, Turkey, Saudi Arabia have been placed in ‘A’ category and passengers travelling from this category are not bound to go through PCR test for coronavirus

• The rules will remain applicable till December 31.

• The new Pakistan Civil Aviation rules will continue to apply until December 31, 2020.

• Passengers shall be required to install Pass Track App downloadable from the google play store and the apple store.

• Those terminated include an officer of CAA’s regulatory licence branch and a joint director

• “All operators will be required to implement the established guidelines, SOPs, and to seek prior schedule approval from the Competent Authority,” said Pakistan Civil Aviation.

• As per details, after the verification by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCCA), the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia reinstated all grounded Pakistani pilots.

• The countries namely, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Malaysia, Vietnam, Bahrain, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait had asked for the details of 176 pilots who had received licenses from the operator in Pakistan.

• Jami wrote in his letter that the verification of licenses was done during the aviation reforms, and some shortcomings in the procedure have been identified which are being rectified.

• The CAA has asked all operators to ensure a culture of non-smoking in the cockpit.