New Gwadar International Airport to be Operational by September 2023
The largest and the most modern New Gwadar International Airport (NGIA), made on a budget of $243 Million, built at an area of 4300 acres, will be operational by September 2023. It would finally be capable of receiving and flying international passengers, at its port city.
An official source says that the development of the airport had different stages, and the passenger terminal building of the project would meet its completion by June 2023, work related to air traffic control by March 2023, while the complete construction of the airport would be finished before September 2023.
The New Gwadar International Airport is being managed and operated by the Civil Aviation Authority and is owned by a tripartite venture between Pakistan, Oman, and China that would handle domestic and international operations.
Furthermore, the development of this airport is a part of the famous China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, which is a cornerstone of China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. The NGIA is the biggest airport in Pakistan as abovementioned, and as such it would become the second only airport in the country capable of handling A380 aircraft upon its commissioning in 2022.
The inception of this airport will further stimulate the growth of Gawadar Peninsula and in consequence would boost trade between Pakistan and China, thus transforming the geopolitical status of the region into the geo-economic hub of investment and trade opportunities.
The NGIA project was first initiated as an early harvest high-priority project of the CPEC program in 2014, from thereon the Executive Committee approved the project of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in January 2015 which was being funded through a grant agreement signed between China and Pakistan in May 2017.
The Airport development also included soil testing on the project site that was started in January 2018 and also involved drilling of 300 boreholes at various locations. Lastly, the groundbreaking the airport was held in 2019.
This airport would be operated and developed as per the open sky policy under the guidance of the CAA.
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