Pakistan International Airlines, which in May suffered a fatal crash in Karachi, must undergo reforms including increasing revenue and upgrading its aircraft, Pakistan’s PM Imran Khan has said. The carrier’s CE Arshad Malik, who was reinstated to his position in March following a court dispute over his appropriateness for the role given his military background, “apprised the prime minister of the strategies to be worked out regarding the reorganisation of the national airline” during a meeting on reforming and restructuring PIA, according to an 8 June statement from the prime minister’s office. This includes how to improve the “financial discipline” of the company, the efficient utilisation of the company’s assets, and “other related matters”. Khan told the meeting that the country is suffering due to Covid-19 and the present situation demands that the reform and reorganisation of the national carrier, which is losing billions of rupees a month, be expedited. He added that “special attention” should be paid to reduce PIA’s expenses, increase its revenue and financial resources, and upgrade its aircraft. Special attention should also be paid to “the best use of domestic and foreign assets owned by PIA through a clean and completely transparent procedure so that these assets do not become a further burden on the people”.<br/>
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Panic gripped passengers when a Pakistan International Airlines plane made unusual noises while returning to Pakistan from Saudi Arabia, but the aircraft safely landed at the Karachi airport, a passenger and airport officials said Thursday. The scare came weeks after another of the airline's Airbus A320 aircraft went down in a residential area, killing 97 passengers and crew members. Pakistan International Airlines rejected local media reports that flight PK-8726 made an emergency landing Wednesday night on its return from Riyadh. It said a part on the A320 developed a problem and was being fixed. The airline did not provide details about the nature of the problem, which resulted in the plane making noises that terrified passengers who were in a state of shock when the plane landed, according to three airport officials who spoke from Jinnah International Airport in Karachi on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to media.<br/>
Switzerland’s parliament has voted in favour of introducing an environmental levy on airline tickets. The Swiss federal assembly says 135 of 195 members approved the proposal, which last year received support from a “large majority” in the nation’s lower chamber, the council of states, following “worldwide climate protests”. A similar proposal had been rejected by the federal assembly in late 2018. Under the new plan, passengers are to be charged between Swfr30 ($31) and Swfr120 per ticket “depending on distance and [travel] class”. The federal assembly says “nearly half” of the proceeds will flow into a climate fund for emissions-reduction initiatives, but has yet to determine how this will be used as details of the plan are “controversial”. Swiss regional carrier Helvetic Airways says it is “basically not opposed” to an environmental tax in principle, but argues that it should be applied at European or global level.<br/>
Flydubai has indefinitely extended the period of reduced pay for employees and placed dozens of pilots on unpaid leave for a year. The airline had temporarily cut salaries for three months from April, which had reduced wages of pilots and engineers by half and cabin crew pay by a quarter. It extended the pay cut and placed some pilots on unpaid leave in effort to preserve cash. Pilots could be recalled to paid work early if needed. A flydubai spokeswoman said that staff had been offered unpaid leave and that the airline was talking to some pilots and cabin crew about their future but declined to comment further. "The decisions we have had to take have not been taken lightly and we will extend our full support," she said.<br/>
Thai AirAsia will ask regulators to change the rule requiring airlines to keep middle seats open. "We have complied with this rule that was introduced when the infection rate in the country was still high, but as we have a low number of cases now, it's time to consider dismissing this limitation," said Santisuk Klongchaiya, CE of TAA. The empty seats, intended to limit the spread of the coronavirus, cut revenue by a third for each flight. Santisuk said most airlines globally did not block off middle seats when restarting their flights during these two months. He said airlines cannot carry this burden in the long run, particularly the loss of opportunity as domestic demand starts to show positive signs. A meeting between the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand and airlines is scheduled for June 16. <br/>