KARACHI: New Gwadar International Airport, a key project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has finally become operational after receiving its inaugural flight on Monday (today). Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK-503 landed at the new airport at 11:14 am and was welcomed by Balochistan Governor Sheikh Jaffar Khan Mandokhail, Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, Aviation Minister Khawaja Asif and other officials. The aircraft used for the airport’s first flight was an ATR, which also received a water salute on landing. The flight was scheduled to depart at 9:14 AM, but the aircraft finally departed for Gwadar from Karachi at 10 AM after a 46-minute delay. The new Gwadar International Airport has replaced the old airport on flight tracking platforms and its location is now indicated by flight radar. Spread over an area of 4,300 acres, the airport is the largest in terms of area in Pakistan. The airport is located 26 kilometers from Gwadar city in the Gurandani region and has a single runway of 3,658 meters length and 75 meters width. The runway is capable of accommodating large aircraft such as Airbus A380 and Boeing 747. Built at a cost of around Rs 50 billion, the airport was symbolically inaugurated by former Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on 14 October 2024. PIA flights to Europe have been resumed In another positive development, PIA was able to resume its long-awaited flights to Europe last month, marking a major milestone for the national carrier after a hiatus of over four years. The national carrier’s license to operate in Europe was suspended in June 2020 due to concerns over the ability of Pakistani authorities and its Civil Aviation Authority to ensure compliance with international aviation standards. Debt-laden PIA was banned from flying to the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States in June 2020, a month after one of its Airbus A-320s plunged into a street in Karachi, killing nearly 100 people. Former aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar blamed the disaster on human error by pilots and air traffic control, following allegations that nearly a third of his pilot licenses were fake or dubious. In November, the European Aviation Safety Agency announced that it had lifted the ban, but the UK and US flying ban remains in place.
