LAHORE – Government has recommended the relocation of the Walton Airport in Lahore to a suitable site in wake of potential safety issues.
Current location of the airport poses a serious safety risk due to the densely populated residential and commercial areas surrounding it, LDA vice-chairman informed.
Finance minister Abdul Hafeez Shiekh chaired a high-powered committee of the Punjab government which decided that Lahore Development Authority (LDA) would take lead in coordinating with stakeholders to thrash out various options for the establishment of an environment-friendly economic hub at the Walton Airport site.
An alternate land will be allocated to shift the airport. The committee will also look at the financial implications of relocation, discuss timelines with land swap options, and look at the required infrastructure.
History of Walton Airport
A group of philanthropist aviators founded the Punjab Flying Club in 1930 and named it Northern Indian Flying Club later in 1932. It comprises of 157.87 acres of land from the forest department in Village Rakh Kot Lakhpat and village Bhabara.
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, landed for the first time in the new state of Pakistan at this aerodrome in 1947. It remained under operation as a passenger airport until the early 1960s.
