KARACHI: The Larkana circuit bench of the Sindh High Court has told the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to follow its earlier order from March 9, 2022. That order asked the CAA to bring back flights to and from Mohenjo Daro Airport and report back on the progress.
A private newspaper said that Justices Mohammad Saleem Jessar and Adnan-ul-Karim Memon gave this direction while hearing three petitions filed between 2017 and 2019.
The petitions were from advocates Sajjid Hussain Mahesar, Imdad Ali Mashori, and Rafique Ahmed Abro, who asked the court to restart Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flights at the airport.
The petitioners said PIA stopped flights at Mohenjo Daro Airport on November 22, 2018, even though it had promised to keep them running. The flights have not started again since then.
The court asked the federal government’s aviation division to explain why it has not decided on compensation for the stopped routes. It also told the CAA’s director general to look into which airlines should fly from Mohenjo Daro Airport, check if they are doing so, and see what the CAA should do if they are not.
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The petitioners said PIA flights to the airport were not regular, even after a court order, and private airlines were not allowed to fly there. They asked for two daily PIA flights between Larkana and Karachi and for private airlines to be allowed to fly the Mohenjo Daro-Larkana route via the old Sukkur-Menara Airport path.
The CAA’s lawyer, Balosch A. Junejo, said the CAA has split into three parts: one for rules, one for airports and navigation, and one for accident investigations.
He said Mohenjo Daro Airport meets international standards and can handle Airbus A320 and Boeing 737 planes, with some weight limits. He added that the airport has supported Boeing 737 flights in the past and has been important to the region for over 50 years with PIA service.
PIA’s lawyer, Irfan Ali Soomro, said the airline would restart flights to northern cities from Mohenjo Daro within a week after internal talks.
A CAA report showed private airlines were not flying required routes, and the authority admitted it failed to enforce rules. The court ordered the CAA to act quickly and report back.
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Mohenjo Daro Airport, built in 1967, was once the third busiest in the province. It handled five weekly PIA flights, two charter flights, and other special flights before it stopped operating without clear reasons.
The court said the CAA’s director general must investigate the airport’s airline services and report back within a month. PIA and CAA officials must attend the next hearing on April 9, 2025.
