The federal government on Friday planned to outsource Karachi’s Jinnah, Lahore’s Allama Iqbal, and Islamabad’s international airport.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, while presiding over the session on aviation and Pakistan International Airline (PIA) affairs, directed to initiate the process of outsourcing under public-private partnership. The PM also formed a committee comprising Federal Minister for aviation Khawaja Saad Rafique and federal secretary for aviation, Federal Minister for planning and development Ahsan Iqbal, and Federal Law minister Azam Nazir Tarar to overlook the process. The committee would be presided by the PM.
The meeting was given a detailed briefing on the outsourcing of airports. It was informed that outsourcing of airports is a normal profit seeking practice throughout the world. It was told that initially Islamabad international Airport and Lahore Airport will be outsourced under public-private partnership. The outsourcing of airports will not only provide revenue to the government, but it will also help improving facilities for international travelers.
The meeting was also briefed on the performance of Pakistan International Airlines. It was informed that PIA collected revenue worth 172 billion rupees during 2022 which is highest amount in the history of the national airline. The meeting was told that four new A-320 fleets have been included in PIA. The network of the airline has also been expanded.
