KARACHI, JAN 20 (DNA): The New Gwadar International Airport, a key project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been finally operationalised after receiving its inaugural flight on Monday (today).
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-503 landed at 11:14am at the new airport and was welcomed by Balochistan Governor Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhail, Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, Aviation Minister Khawaja Asif and other officials.
The aircraft, used for the airport’s first flight, was an ATR which also received a water salute upon landing.
The flight’s departure was slated for 9:14am but the plane eventually left for Gwadar from Karachi at 10am following a 46-minute delay.
The New Gwadar International Airport has replaced the old airport on flight tracking platforms, with its location now tagged on flight radar.
Spread across 4,300 acres, the airport is Pakistan’s largest in terms of area. Located 26 kilometres from Gwadar city in the Gurandani area, the airport features a single runway measuring 3,658 metres in length and 75 metres in width.
The runway is capable of accommodating large aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747.
Constructed at a cost of approximately Rs50 billion, the airport’s symbolic inauguration was carried out by former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on October 14, 2024.
However, regular flight operations are set to commence today.
PIA Europe operations
In another positive development, PIA was allowed to resume its long-awaited flights to Europe last month, marking a major milestone for the national carrier after more than four years of hiatus.
The national carrier’s authorisation to operate in Europe was suspended in June 2020 over concerns about the ability of Pakistani authorities and its Civil Aviation Authority to ensure compliance with international aviation standards.
Debt-ridden PIA was banned in June 2020 from flying to the European Union, United Kingdom and the United States, a month after one of its Airbus A-320s plunged into a Karachi street, killing nearly 100 people.
The disaster was attributed by former aviation minister, Ghulam Sarwar, to human error by the pilots and air traffic control, and was followed by allegations that nearly a third of the licences for its pilots were fake or dubious.
In November, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency announced it had lifted the ban, however, it remains barred from flying in the UK and the United States.
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