ISLAMABAD: The aviation industry of Pakistan is geared up to face yet another challenge as Noor Airways formally joins the competitive environment. Recently, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) has received an application from Noor Airways requesting permission to obtain a license for operating in the field of Regular Public Transport (RPT).
The RPT permit forms the key regulatory requirement that any airline would need to fulfill before it can offer commercial passenger services in Pakistan. Without this permission, an airline cannot initiate its flights legally. For the purpose of initiating its operation, Noor Airways plans on using Airbus A320 planes.
The aviation sector considers the aircraft a “workhorse” for medium and short-haul domestic routes. With the selection of this narrow body aircraft, Noor Airways is able to position itself well to challenge other airlines on the busiest domestic routes. Even though there has not been any confirmation from the airline’s management on when the service will be launched or what kind of pricing strategy will be adopted, analysts believe that the airline will focus on “the big five”: Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, and Quetta.
A Market in Transition
The arrival of Noor Airways is happening at the time of great reorganization in the skies. Pakistan currently has only four active scheduled airlines. This comes after the PCAA made a move in October 2025 to ground SereneAir on account of having too few serviceable aircraft.
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Passenger traffic in Pakistan amounted to an impressive 21.1 million in the fiscal year 2025. This is an area that provides a chance for growth because passengers continue to demand more flights and competitive pricing. The experts say that such a situation makes existing airline companies enhance their performance in terms of service delivery and connectivity, which has proved elusive to many Pakistanis.
But Noor Airways is certainly not the only organization aiming at exploiting this opportunity. Air Karachi, having started its operations in November 2025, has decided to kick off its operations on March 23, 2026. Having raised Rs 5 billion through investors based in Karachi, Air Karachi now has its RPT license in place, indicating optimism on the part of private investors regarding the sector’s future prospects.
The Regulatory Roadmap
Though applying for the RPT may be an important process, Noor Airways will face many other major obstacles before their maiden flight. The following are some of the challenges that await the new airline:
- Finalizing aircraft leasing or purchase arrangements.
- Passing comprehensive operational readiness checks by the PCAA.
- Securing detailed safety approvals and crew certifications.
- Obtaining specific route permissions for each domestic sector.
All these compulsory processes involve a lot of time and effort. Nonetheless, from the current path, it appears that Noor Airways is gradually achieving their objective. This is welcome news to the general public who have been complaining about lack of options and poor service delivery.
