NGIA to multiply Pakistan-China trade

Islamabad: New Gwadar International Airport (NGIA) under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will multiply trade between Pakistan and China as it nears completion.

An official announcement said the most modern US $246 million New Gwadar International Airport (NGIA), built at an area of 4,300 acres, would be operational by September 2023 to welcome local and international flights at the port city.

“It will stimulate the development of the Gwadar peninsula and boost trade between Pakistan and China, hence transforming the geopolitical status of the region into the geo-economic hub of investment and trade opportunities,” read the official announcement.

The NGIAis being managed and operated by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) which is owned by a tripartite venture between Pakistan, Oman, and China that would handle domestic and international operations.

The airport development is a part of the gigantic CPEC project, which is a cornerstone of China’s One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative.

The biggest in Pakistan, the NGIA would also become the nation’s second airport capable of handling A380 aircraft upon its commissioning in 2022. The airport would be operated and developed as per the open sky policy under the guidance of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The New Gwadar International Airport project was initiated as an early harvest high-priority project of the CPEC program in 2014.

The Executive Committee approved the project of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in January 2015 which was being funded through a grant agreement signed between China and Pakistan in May 2017.

The Airport development also included soil testing on the project site that was started in January 2018 and also involved drilling of 300 boreholes at various locations. The groundbreaking of the airport was held in March 2019.

The official statement mentioned that the development of the airport was at different stages as the passenger terminal building of the project would be completed by June 2023, work related to air traffic control will be completed by March 2023, while the overall construction of the airport would be finalized before September 2023.