The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PkCAA) has ordered Shaheen Air International (Karachi International) to ground three aircraft over airworthiness concerns after one of the airline's nine B737-400s - AP-BJT (msn 25740) - burst a tyre while landing at Quetta last week. The aircraft subsequently veered off the runway blocking traffic for an hour before it was towed away.

Local media reports state the PkCAA directive involves an Airbus A320-200, AP-BLI (cn 877), an A330-300, AP-BKN (cn 86) and a B737-400, AP-BJQ (cn 26449) all of which were found to have various defects during a recent inspection.

“We have been warning Shaheen Air for weeks to fix issues with their aircraft but they were not listening," a PkCAA spokesman told The Tribune newspaper. "[The] CAA will not compromise on [the] safety of passengers.”

Shaheen operates a total of eight A320-200s, three A330-300s,and nine B737-400s on scheduled flights through Pakistan as well as to Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iran, and Oman.

Last month, the authority ordered the grounding of another Pakistani carrier - Air Indus (MPK, Karachi International) - also citing alleged airwothiness violations. While the airline was able to overturn the order on a technicality, the PkCAA has stood by its assessment.