ISLAMABAD – The Islamabad International Airport will be outsourced by August 12 as formalities in this regard would be completed soon.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has told the stakeholders to finalize formalities so that the outsourcing can be done before the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent regime.
The development came during a meeting of the steering committee for assessing the progress of airport operations and sources say clear-cut instructions were passed to complete the necessary procedures for outsourcing the facility.
An official announcement issued after the meeting said World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), the transaction adviser for the outsourcing, briefed the participants on the progress who agreed to fast-track airport’s outsourcing to improve service delivery and to bring them at par with best industry practices.
During the meeting, the IFC also gave a presentation to the committee which also took decisions on the future roadmap of outsourcing the operations, Dawn news reported.
The government has been advocating the outsourcing of three major airports across the country at a time when a severe economic crisis is being faced by the nation.
The finance minister has already convened multiple meetings of the committee formed to engage foreign operators for outsourcing and soon Karachi and Lahore international airports would also be outsourced if the plans are executed.
The outsourcing of three airports has been kicked off within the scope of a public-private partnership to engage private investors/airport operators through a competitive and transparent process.
The investors and airport operators would be required to “run the airports, develop appertaining land assets and enhance avenues for commercial activities and to garner full revenue potential,” an official statement added.
In the meeting on Saturday, the finance minister also gave a deadline to departments concerned for finalizing amendments to civil aviation laws and a plan for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) restructuring which is bailed out by the government after a few months repeatedly.
The minister underlined the need for getting amendments approved by the parliament before the end of July as it would allow global aviation regulators to send inspectors in August for an on-ground assessment of operational systems and standards necessary to restore PIA’s flights to the US, UK and Europe.
The national carrier’s flights to these destinations have been suspended since 2020 following a controversy surrounding pilots’ professional degrees and other aircraft safety standards.
