The interim Taliban government in Afghanistan has sought Pakistan’s help to restore air traffic between the two countries.
It is learnt that the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Transport of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has written a letter to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of Pakistan seeking permission to resume flights to Pakistan.
The Afghan Civil Aviation’s letter addressed to CAA Secretary Shaukat Ali, sought permission for scheduled flights for Afghanistan’s national airlines, Ariana Afghan Airlines and Kam Air Pakistan, to Islamabad.
The Afghan Civil Aviation sought permission under an MoU signed between the two governments.
The letter said that the US troops had destroyed the facilities at Kabul airport on their way out. But now our Qatari brothers have restored the airport and it can handle passengers from around the world.
KABUL AIRPORT RESTORATION: Meanwhile, a Taliban administration official has said that the Qatari and United Arab Emirates teams will remain in Afghanistan until Kabul airport is fully operational for international flights.
Mawlavi Abdul Hadi Hamadan, acting head of Hamid Karzai International Airport, told Anadolu agency that several teams from Qatar and the UAE are working at the airport, but there are still technical difficulties that must be resolved before international flights are fully operational.
“International flights have already begun, with many flights bringing humanitarian aid from Qatar, the UAE, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan landing here, but the airport is not fully operational,” he continued.
Before leaving, the US forces caused extensive damage to the airport, planes, terminals, and buildings, and they did not spare even small commodities such as chairs, TV sets, and computers in different departments, according to Hamadan.
The Qatari and UAE teams are working to resolve the technical issues as quickly as possible, but no timetable for making the airport fully operational for international flights can be given at this time, he said.
He said that the UAE team has informed him that they have already spent $1 million renovating one of the terminals, and that “they cannot forgive what the US troops have done to the airport.”
There are many Afghans residing overseas who are yearning to return since they are facing numerous hardships, he said.
They desire to have reciprocal flight operations with different countries, “especially between our neighbors.”
However, once the airport issue is fixed, other difficulties will be addressed progressively, Hamadan maintained.
