ISLAMABAD – The government of Pakistan has imposed additional fees on passengers opting for air travel within the country.
According to the Civil Aviation Authority, the extra charges have been named ‘airport charges’; the passengers would now have to pay Rs 100 to the airlines which will then deposit them to the authority.
It has also been announced by the aviation regulator that the charges would be imposed on passengers with effect from January 15th.
The decision comes as Pakistan’s caretaker regime completes its term and braces for the upcoming elections scheduled on February 8th.
The caretaker regime has made several amendments in recent months to improve the aviation sector and has also announced the outsourcing of three airports in the country.
As far as Islamabad Airport is concerned, the government had announced to outsource its operations for 15 years.
According to the Aviation adviser, a Transaction Advisory Services Agreement (TASA) had been signed between the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to outsource the operations of three international airports in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore.
The successful bidder for Islamabad International Airport will be disclosed after the bidding process is completed and as far as the timeline is concerned, the award of concession for outsourcing is expected to be completed before June 2024.
As far as the services to be outsourced are concerned, the government has clarified that only the operation and management of specific airport components would be outsourced, while critical services such as the Air Traffic Control Tower, Rescue and fire Fighting Services and Air Navigation services would remain under the administrative control of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority.
