PESHAWAR : Saudi Arabian Airlines has decided to postpone the resumption of its flight operations at the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar to August 7. Syed Latiful Haq, a Terminal Manager of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) at the airport was quoted as saying by a private TV channel. The airline, which was scheduled to restart operations at the airport in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial capital on July 31, officially notified authorities that it had decided to delay the resumption. There was no official word from the airline. The airline had suspended its operations at the airport following an attack on the PIA 756 flight on June 25 which left a woman dead and two crew members injured.
Six international airlines, including Etihad, Gulf Air, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Emirates, Qatar Airways and Air Arabia, are operating from the Bacha Khan International Airport in Peshawar, mostly carrying working class citizens from KP to Middle Eastern countries and other destinations. Apart from Air Arabia, all five international airlines had announced suspension of their operations from Peshawar following the June 25 incident. Emirates and Qatar Airways have already resumed operations at the Bacha Khan International airport. The Bacha Khan International Airport is surrounded by residential areas, including the slums of Nawai Kalley, Badbher and the rural-urban mix population of Ring Road villages on one side.