Govt decides to lease out Islamabad airport

ISLAMABAD: In the wake of practical difficulties to execute the outsourcing of two international airports of Karachi and Lahore for the time being, the government has decided to lease out New Islamabad International Airport to interested international investors in the first phase.

The New Islamabad International Airport has so far been declared as the ‘clean’ transaction compared to other airports so the government is considering moving ahead with its outsourcing as early as possible. However, there are interested parties in securing operations of these three airports of Pakistan and International Finance Corporation (IFC) has mentioned it in their presentation given to Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar here on Monday.

However, it will not be an easy task for moving ahead in a speedy manner as the government has not yet advertised the outsourcing of any airport. “There are some practical issues which need resolution before handing over airport to any international party as for instance the national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has become defaulter of various facilities of these airports” top official sources confirmed while talking to The News here on Monday. If the government takes over the past liabilities of the PIA how the new operator of the airport will allow free-of-cost facilities to PIA. It was one of the major concerns which need to be resolved before moving forward.

“In Karachi and Lahore, certain parts of the airports are occupied by some relevant agencies so that requires a permanent solution because the potential investors would like to utilize the complete airport for commercial purposes,” said the officials. The Airport Security Force (ASF) has also become one of the stumbling blocs in the way of accomplishing this transaction. It remains to be seen how the government resolves these problems. The sources said that the government is making all-out efforts to outsource New Islamabad International Airport before the completion of its tenure in the second week of August 2023 but it seems difficult.

The Minister for Finance and Revenues Ishaq Dar on Monday chaired a high-level meeting and directed the Transaction Advisor to come up with a viable plan to outsource the Islamabad airport to any interested party which possesses the experience to run the airports “The government has envisaged a deadline for completion of this transaction next month and the World Bank’s IFC has been mandated as Transaction Advisor to come up with a feasible plan,” top official sources confirmed while talking to The News here on Monday. The Transaction Advisor and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) have been directed to speed up the complete spadework so that the outsourcing of New Islamabad International Airport could be accomplished within the stipulated timeframe.

According to an official statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting of the Steering Committee to oversee the outsourcing of airports’ operations, at the Finance Division. During the meeting, IFC, the transaction advisor, gave a presentation to the committee which took decisions as to the future roadmap for moving forward for outsourcing of the first airport in order to improve service delivery and match best international practices. Federal Minister for Aviation and Railways Khawaja Saad Rafique, Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Government Effectiveness Dr Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan, Secretary Aviation, DG CAA, IFC representatives and senior officers from finance and aviation attended the meeting.